Final Fantasy VII 1. Day 1: Morning: Elena's bedroom

Elena wakes up hung over with practically no memory of what happened the previous night or how she even got home. But certain clues make her think she didn't come home alone. Elena tries so find out who it was and what happened and how!So who was it? Tseng? Elena wishes. Rude? Elena doesn't think so, but who knows with the silent type. Rufus? Elena doubted he spent his time with lower level employees but maybe he made an exception for a Turk. Reno? Elena shudders.I don't really have a time frame for this so I guess it's before ff7 the game.

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The lone blonde woman slept like a drugged baby in her large bed. From the looks of her one would think she had passed out from exhaustion and fatigue. How looks can be deceiving. The truth was a little more complicated and yet to be fully known by the almost naked woman.

The petite killer stirred slightly, curling herself more into a ball to warm herself. Her fair eyebrows frowned as consciousness slowly replaced sleep.

"Ughhhhhhhhh…" immediately resonated in the room when a pair of blue eyes snapped open and made contact with the morning.

Elena felt like sledgehammers were making their way through her brain. Bits and pieces of the previous night bombarded the Turk and she groaned some more. She lifted her head slightly from her pillow to look at the time but fell back when a brutal headache started it's unmerciful pounding.

She hadn't had such a terrible hangover in years. Damn work parties. Why did Shinra even bother? Elena just attended the formal gatherings because it was expected of all the Turks.

Speaking of formal where was her dress? She had paid a lot of gil to buy it and she wasn't about to let it go to waste.

Last night had been Rufus Shinra's birthday party and all the important and high-ranking employees had attended. That meant only a few hundred of the many thousands of Shinra employees had been there, including the Turks. Also in case something happened they were there to "fix" it.

Elena briefly noticed she only wore her undies but she didn't pay too much attention to it blaming it on a alcohol induced idea. She wrapped the cover around her lithe body to keep warm and also to take time in getting up. Once the nausea and spinning stopped and she was just left with the headache, the blonde Turk got up and walked towards the kitchen.

While she walked there, her training unconsciously noted what her apartment looked like. Elena abruptly stopped drinking out of her glass when the details she had seen started to come into focus. She backed away from her tiny kitchen to take a good look at her apartment and she didn't like what she saw.

The twin pillows on her couch were thrown on the floor around her burgundy couch. Her bra was flopped over one of the couch's arms. One of her shoes was lying there too. Elena quickly picked it up and went in search of the other, trying to ignore the pain in her head. She found that one near the front door as if it was tossed there in a hurry.

From there she glimpsed into her bathroom and saw her black dress on the blue tiled floor. Elena went in and picked it up. As she held it up, she saw that it was torn. She couldn't believe she did this mess in her drunken stupor.

"Damnit!" she yelled out, clutching the torn dress in her hands. The sound seemed intensified as it echoed off the wall and pierced Elena's skull.

Another ugh escaped her lips as she gripped the sink trying to will the throbbing away. Why was her dress ripped? Had she been sodrunk she forgot how to undress herself and ended up making a hole to get out?

Highly unlikely the Turk in her pointed out rigidly. The blonde glanced up at the mirror and suddenly the dress was but a mere blip in her radar.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Elena screamed.

She moved closed to the mirror, well as much as the sink would let her and looked at herself. Elena's make up had all but left, only the black eyeliner and mascara gave her a smoky morning look. Her hair didn't look so bad but when she turned her head sideways...

Her blue eyes widened dramatically as she looked at one specific spot. Was **that**…? No, **it** couldn't be! Oh horror of horrors, she had a _hickey_! Elena turned her head the other way and found two more near her ear lobe and jaw line. This was not good, not good at all! Elena turned her back towards the mirror to see if there was any more damage and to her dismay she saw bite marks. Blue eyes widened as she frantically tried to remember what happened. What _had_ she done last night exactly?

Without delay she looked around her apartment to see if anyone else was there but found no one. Instead she found a few ripped off buttons on the couch and an empty wine bottle on the living room glass table. Elena then carefully made her way into her bedroom, fully prepared to inspect it inch by inch.

The covers were a little messier than she was used to but it could just be that she had tossed and turned during the night. How she wanted to believe that. As much as she tried, Elena couldn't remember much of last night.

How much did she have to drink? Her pounding headache seemed to indicate quite a lot. At that moment her alarm clock decided to make it's presence known as it painfully beeped the current time, which turned out to be noon. Did the ringing always sound so piercing, the hung over Turk wondered.

Ignoring everything now, Elena furtively got dressed in her usual black business suit and white blouse. Then it occurred to her that the marks were visible, so she grabbed a black turtleneck and put it on instead. She also took out her guns from her desk and put one inside her jacket and the other near her waist. A part of her routine that she liked doing.

She was amazingly late. How was she going to explain that? Sighing, Elena tried to find a good excuse but none formed in her hazy mind. She'd just have to come up with something on the spot.

Before she left her apartment, she swallowed two pills hoping it would stop her headache. Elena somehow knew it was going to be a long day.

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Chapter one done. On to the next. um nice reviews? 


	2. Day 1: Morning: Tseng's office

So here is chapter 2. Any reviews, comments, suggestions:)

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The elevator ride had never seemed so loud to Elena. Every ding of each floor she passed seemed to be a new found torture.

There was good side to this though, the lack of sunlight. She had never been so happy for the absence of light in Midgar otherwise her retinas would have been burned hours ago. She remembered a time when the Turks had a mission in Kalm and Reno had gotten her drunk. The village and all its natural sunlight had made her want to shoot herself. Well more like shoot Reno first, then her.

Buteven if she were drunk, she wouldn't go home with a perfect stranger, would she? No, she shook her short blonde hair, she wouldn't. More than likely it was someone she knew. Oh Planet, it was someone she _knew_!

Suddenly the elevator doors snapped open on the 33rd floor letting in a beam of fluorescent lighting, quickly followed by a whistling red headed and handsomely lean Turk.

Reno pressed a button and repressed a laugh when he saw the famous "I-drank-too-much-let's-blame-Reno" look plastered on her pale face. Elena remained silent. She was trying to ignore him by appearing interested in the elevator buttons as he stood next to her.

Reno glanced sideways at the shorter Turk and then back at the shiny thing he held in his hands. Oh this was just too good to pass up, he smirked.

With exaggerated gestures, Reno opened his candy wrapper to maximize its metallic noise. Elena winced and closed her eyes feeling her urge to kill rising at each passing sound.

"Reno!" Elena yelled as she grabbed his upper arm fiercely. "Stop that irritating noise or I will shove that wrapper somewhere very unpleasant!"

The red head's smirk only intensified. He just loved getting to her. Looking from her hand to her glare he only shrugged his shoulders in response and ate his chocolate bar. His shirt collar moved with that motion exposing his neck. For a second all Elena could see was a dark mark on his pale flesh, right under his ear. It felt like a cold hit to the stomach.

Elena's hold increased on Reno's arm almost tearing his muscle flesh right off. Reno who was usually so resistant to pain let out a yelp as he tried to pull his arm free of her insane grip. Had she finally snapped and was about to go Midgar Zolom on his ass?

The woman, however, didn't notice any of this for her shocked brain could only think of one thing: oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Had she done that to him? With _her_ lips? In her apartment?

But as Reno's struggling continued the elevator light shone fully on his neck revealing it had only been a shadow. Elena immediately let go of Reno and slumped against the elevator's wall ready to pass out. That had been too close.

Reno meanwhile was left massaging his arm in an attempt to return the blood flow. Damn, the woman had a grip of steel. He looked at Elena trying to figure out why she was acting weirder than usual.

But there was something off about her, something that made her look different. Was it the way she looked like a chocobo caught in the headlights? Or the way she barely made eye contact with him? He looked her up and down and rested on the black turtleneck. Elena was famous for taking her professionalism to a disturbing level and her attire was high up there, right next to his drinking and Rude's silent conversations.

Now why was she wearing a turtleneck all of a sudden? The only reason he'd ever wear one was if…

Oh.

OH!

Reno smiled widely and wickedly as the proverbial light bulb didn't just turn on but blew up.

Elena on the other hand didn't like the way the red head suddenly looked like a wolf.

"What?" she asked him, suspicion evident in her tone. He had probably just figured out a new way to irritate her, at least she hoped.

Reno fixed his twinkling brown (what color are his eyes?) eyes on her, his mouth curving up attractively. Elena just wanted to smack that arrogant look right off his face.

The elevator doors luckily opened allowing Reno to exit before she had a chance to interrogate him in her own special way. However he stopped and turned to practically purr,

"Nice turtleneck."

And with that he walked away, thin ponytail swaying behind his retreating form, leaving a blushing Elena mentally adding a 1 to Reno's name on her list of probability that it was him she had, ugh, she didn't want to put it into words.

It didn't take long after that to reach the Turk's office floor. They were such a valuable asset to the company that they had their own floor in the Shinra building. She dragged her weary self towards the main office trying to steady her sudden erratic breathing.

Tseng could be standing behind those solid oak double doors. What would he say about her being late? Would he be angry, disappointed or happy to see her? Maybe he was the one who had come with her home. Elena tried not to giggle at the possibility. But then he might have huge regrets about it.

She pushed open the doors and there he was, the leader of the Turks in all his dark glory. He was sitting at the end of the long table where meetings were held, his head bent over what were probably important papers. His sleek black hair was pulled back like always, revealing his wutainese cheekbones.

Elena tried very hard not to squeal at the sight. Tseng lifted his head as if he had heard her mental squeal and pinned her with his black eyes.

"You are late Elena. Very unlike you," he said simply.

Elena just nodded stiffly knowing full well he was probably going to ask her her reason.

As if on cue Tseng asked, "Why?"

"Because I broke my alarm clock?" Elena knew it sounded like a question but she hadn't thought of anything else to say.

The older Turk merely raised an eyebrow.

"Or has it something to do with the late night everyone had yesterday?"

The blonde Turk tried to see if he was hinting at something but he had his eyes on the papers once more so she couldn't see his face.

Once again the same question arose: what did happen last night?

She did remember a splendid table where the alcohol was on display, almost like jewelry. A large donut like table in the center of the gigantic room held the wine, champagne and hard liquor glasses. People could just grab any glass they wanted from the vast choice of beverages.

Then another memory surfaced, this one of her tripping on her heeled foot but instead of falling in front of hundreds of powerful people, someone grabbed her by the waist to steady her. She could feel the person's hand on her stomach.

Before she could remember who it had been, the sound of Tseng scribbling a pen brought her out of her recollection.

Tseng had signed everything that was necessary and was ready to hand in this latest report to the president. He looked up and noticed that Elena was still standing in the same spot like a statue. An all black statue. Hmm, she was wearing a turtleneck instead of the usual white blouse.

Tseng assembled his papers and stood up. As he passed by Elena who seemed to be on another planet, he stopped and asked,

"Anything particular on your mind this afternoon?"

Elena rubbed her temple with her index finger trying to find exactly how to ask him. Seeing that there really wasn't a good way, she went for it.

"Sir, um, this might sound odd, but did anything happen last night? I mean during the party?"

"What do you mean?"

He could tell she was nervous because she was playing with her hands. Elena didn't notice it though due to her high stress level. Was he laughing at her?

"I mean exactly that," the blonde answered, trying not to sound too insulted. "Did anything happen at the party?"

"Why, don't you remember what happened?" he asked teasingly.

Elena's eyes widened a little as he unknowingly hit the mark. But Tseng noticed her reaction and tried not to laugh out loud.

"So you don't actually remember. That is interesting. How much did you have to drink?"

By now, Elena was trying her best not to shuffle her feet like a kid in front of her boss.

"I asked you a question, Elena," Tseng said, his Turk tone in full swing now.

"I don't know for sure sir, " the woman murmured looking at his monotone tie.

Tseng however abruptly turned away and walked off. Elena quickly followed behind knowing he would continue talking while they moved.

"I am surprised you haven't figured it out sooner," Tseng said as they walked in the hallways.

"Figured out what?"

The leader of the Turks laughed softly. Maybe she was too hung over to see how obvious the answer was.

"When dealing with alcohol, whose name immediately comes to mind?" he asked her simply.

The words didn't have time to escape his mouth when a furious screamerupted from behind him.

Elena had already turned and headed towards the elevators fully intent on ridding the planet of the vilest animal on the planet, who just happened to have a red mane. Before she could get too far, Tseng announced calmly,

"Turk meeting in an hour Elena. And when you find Reno, bring him with you."

Elena gritted her teeth. So extermination wasn't in the near future for Reno, but she could still make him suffer.

She kept pushing the button hoping it would make the elevator come more quickly. She was about to kick it but finally the doors opened letting Rude out. Elena ignored him as she entered but Rude heard her mumbling something about devising ways to torture someone unheard of in all history.

Rude casually walked up to Tseng and an eyebrow rose from behind his sunglasses in silent inquiry.

Tseng merely shook his head and responded to Rude's question, "Nothing to be concerned about yet."

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So i guess it's becoming more obvious who it was so i will probably change the summary soon. Until then toodles.


	3. Day 1: Morning: Cafeteria

Cool, now I know Reno's eye color is blue. Always an important thing to know.

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Elena knew that Reno had gotten off on the cafeteria floor. Probably to get more candy wrappers to destroy her hearing with. Oh how she wanted to kill him. But sadly Tseng denied her that.

Instead, she focused on what she could do. An evil but peaceful grin spread on her face as her mind came up way after way to hurt him. It almost made her feel better, almost. If only she knew what to do. She had never thought she would be the type of girl to get drunk and go home with someone. In other words, to act like Reno.

Why did she pick that night out of all nights to drink way too much? No matter how much she thought nothing came.

Elena in exasperation turned around and began banging her fist on the elevator's wall. The two security guards a few floors up watching the black and white silent screen of the elevator monitor each looked at one another wondering if one of the Turks had finally cracked under pressure.

Soon the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Elena composed herself and strode out confidently ignoring the people she pushed out of the way. Usually Shinra employees would automatically get out of a Turk's way but she was walking way too fast for people to even get a good look at her. All they saw was an angry blonde blur.

What made her so angry is the fact that Reno could do something like this.

The cafeteria was basically the entire floor, littered with hundred of tables and seats to eat on. Several large plastic plants were placed in strategic corners to give the cafeteria a more cheerful look. But it just looked like a sorry attempt to make the employees feel welcome.

Many tables were occupied with chatty employees discussing the newest gossip. Some glanced at her but then quickly looked away. Elena was used to that now but then her alert eyes spotted a red head, exactly Reno's color, heading towards the men's bathroom.

Ah hell, she thought.

She immediately ran towards him, hoping to intercept Reno before he could be out of her reach. He must have seen her out of the corner of his eye because his steps visibly quickened. Upon reaching the door, Reno waved in her direction and swiftly entering.

A few seconds later, Elena braked hard to avoid hitting the door and began cursing. Well she was just going to wait for him here then, she decided. After all, there was no other way out for him.

Minutes passed by with just a few men going in and out, but no obnoxious Reno.

He must be waiting for her to get tired of waiting. Well though luck! She was going to stand here until she got some answers damnit!

More time passed and Elena was reading to strangle the large plant next to her. There was a draft somewhere because the large palm like leaf kept smacking her in the face. Her urge to kill was at an all time high.

Suddenly her last strand of patience fizzled as she kicked the door violently open and entered the men's bathroom, not caring what people thought. It was a good thing she was on top of the Shinra food chain, this allowed her to get away with most things.

Surprisingly, Reno was leaning on the furthest wall, head bent slightly seeming interested by the light blue tile floor. His hands were stuffed in his pockets as usual. All in all, he looked like he had been waiting for her for a while now. This only made Elena angrier.

He finally glanced up as he heard Elena's fist crack.

"Took you long enough," he stated simply.

"You knew I would come in?" Elena shrieked through her clenched teeth. She knew that if she didn't die on a mission, her blood pressure would certainly be the cause. She already had an epitaph in mind: "Reno did it."

"Of course."

He approached her and asked casually, "And I really doubt you'd come all the way in here for nothing, unless you are really curious about what goes on in the men's washrooms. So what can I do for you today?"

His directness sometimes had the ability to stun her, but if he could get to the point so could she.

"What happened last night?" she asked rapidly.

Elena unconsciously held her breath, waiting agonizingly for Reno to respond. However a stall door burst open loudly and out ran a nervous lab employee. She tried really hard to prevent herself from blushing, but her warm cheeks told her she wasn't really succeeding. Just great.

Reno on the other hand didn't even register the event as he kept looking at her flush under his gaze.

He knew he had the power. He could say practically anything and she would probably believe him.

So it all came down to one thing: should he tell her the truth or play with her mind? Thankfully he had a very open-minded conscience and it was telling him to have a little fun.

Reno walked up to Elena, making sure he was in her personal space and said softly, "What do you want to know?"

Elena tried not to let him see her squirm but his closeness was bothering her a little. She looked at his chest but his unbuttoned shirt showed off lean muscle. Elena immediately looked up only to have her eyes focus on his soft looking lips. She tried higher still, not liking the way her girly parts were reacting to him. Finally her eyes locked onto his laughing ones and she realized he had noticed her checking him out.

Immediately Elena lunged at him. She would explain this attempted homicide to Tseng when the time came, hopefully much, much later. Reno didn't get the chance to move out of the way as her hands seized him by the throat and they both went flying

Reno landed heavily onto the tile floor with Elena on top still trying to rip him into pieces. The impact almost knocked the wind right out of his lungs but his training had taught him how to fall properly. The red head didn't waste any time in fighting back as he tried to grab Elena's wrists. Eventually he managed to do so but that still didn't stop Elena from trying to hurt him.

Despite the situation, Reno began laughing. The blonde woman stopped moving wondering what was so funny. Reno saw the way she was looking at him and said, "It's just that this is almost exactly what happened last night."

The blood drained from Elena's face as she yelled, "WHAT?"

Seeing the dangerous intent in her ice blue eyes, Reno quickly answered back, "It's not what you think!"

By that time Elena was no longer listening and with renewed strength wrenched her hands out of his grip and tried to knock him out.

Suddenly Elena's PHS rang. Groaning her frustration, she answered because it might be important.

"Yes?" she answered curtly. This had better been important because this was cutting into her kicking Reno's ass time.

"I assume Reno is with you," came Tseng's smooth voice from the other end. The man had eerie timing.

She sighed as she looked at Reno who just blinked back at her.

"Yes sir."

"Good. Bring him with you now because the meeting has been pushed up. Something urgent needs to be taken care of." And with that Tseng hung up his phone.

"I am guessing that Tseng is demanding our attendance," said Reno as he put his arms under his head for support.

Elena just frowned and said, "How did you figure that one out?"

"Your volume setting is too high," he answered, smiling smugly.

"Screw you," Elena replied

"You already did."

The blonde Turk immediately jumped off him as if he was a filthy disease. Reno quietly lifted himself up not bothering to dust himself off. After all it went with his scruffy look. He just wished he had a camera to take a picture of her shocked face. It was absolutely priceless.

Elena meanwhile just couldn't believe it. There had to be something missing, some unknown reason. God how she hoped there was one.

"Are you telling the truth?" Elena eventually demanded, arms crossed over her chest in an attempt to keep her pounding heart from bursting out.

Reno casually walked up towards her, once again with his hands stuffed in his pant pockets and said simply,

"Probably not."

Reno walked past the shocked blonde and strode out of the bathroom only stopping to say, "Are you coming or not?"

Elena growled but followed nonetheless. After the meeting she swore to herself she would get answers even if she had to tie him up to a chair to get them.

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Ok I finally have a basic idea where this story is going now, but I don't know if I should change the summary or not. It is a little different from what I originally planned this on being but it could still change. Oh well, any reviews? 


	4. Day 1: Morning: Meeting

Ok I think I got it this time: Elena has brown eyes and Reno blue. Right? Took a while to get though. I am sooooo slow oO

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When Elena and Reno entered the huge conference room, both Tseng and Rude were already seated and patiently waiting. Elena quickly sat on one side of the rectangular table, glaring at Reno to sit as far away as possible. However he settled to sit directly in front of her on the opposite side of the table. He wasn't that suicidal to sit next to her. 

The table itself could seat at least 20 people, but it currently only had 4 permanent residents that used it on a regular basis. Maybe the Turks were initially meant to have more members or it was a wealth statement, no one knew really.

Tseng casually glanced at each Turk from where he sat and said, "Good to see you are both still alive. We can finally start with the proceedings."

Reno had already stopped listening by then as he swung his legs on the table. These meetings were all the same: Tseng receives an urgent order from higher up, Tseng gives the Turks a briefing and then they go do whatever they were ordered to do. Of course it wasn't as clear cut as that but it worked for Reno.

Elena on the other hand was doing her best to focus on what Tseng was talking about but her mind kept going overwhat Reno had said. There simply couldn't be enough alcohol on the Planet for her to get drunk and lose her mind to sleep with the red head, could there?

She turned her head slightly to better look at him. He didn't look that bad and his twin scars did make him look rather attractive and his hair was pretty to look at, but still this was Reno!

"Elena," suddenly said Tseng causing the blonde to snap her head towards him. "Stop staring at Reno and pay attention."

"Yeah, stop staring at me," added Reno tauntingly. Rude just shook his head silently, recognizing the first signs of a fight between two of his coworkers.

She narrowed her eyes at him but he didn't even flinch. Just as Tseng was about to continue with the briefing, the main oak doors burst open letting in Rufus Shinra.

None of the Turks looked remotely surprised but they were probably all thinking what was the boss's son doing here.

As he approached the four people, he said without looking, "Feet off the table Reno."

Groaning slightly, Reno did just that. He hated it when the "big boss" came around.

Rufus now stood near the other end of the table.

"Change of plans. This needs to be done by tonight," he said to Tseng who merely nodded in response. Whatever the reason was for the change, Tseng never questioned it. They were Turks and as such they followed their orders to the letter.

"I hope you all know what to do" Rufus continued, looking pointedly at Reno.

The red head just smiled and answered flippantly, "Well I was going to listen to whatever Tseng had to say but you know how interesting wallpaper can be."

No one was shocked to hear that, not even Rufus. They were all too used to Reno's juvenile banter. He might be an overconfident ass, but that confidence was well placed. Reno seemed like a goof but when he was on a mission he was a deadly opponent. That was why no one really cared what he said as long as he kept doing his job right.

"That is all then. Remember Tseng, no one can see any Turks around there."

Elena had been closely watching Rufus wondering if he could be a possible candidate for who went home with her. But she highly doubted it. He just seemed too aloof and in control of himself to sleep around with his employees.

Rufus nodded at each Turk as he customarily did but seemed to watch Elena more closely. One of his fine strawberry blonde eyebrows rose in silent enquiry.

"Out of uniform, Elena?" he asked.

Elena was momentarily too shocked by his question to answer with words.

"Ummm, I…. uhhh."

"She had a rough night," helped Reno.

Elena immediately threw him a glare but he ignored it yet again.

Rufus's eyes seemed to laugh as he understood the hidden meaning behind Reno's words. Looking back at Elena, Rufus merely smiled and walked out of the room. Tseng coughed slightly bringing everyone's attention back to him.

"You heard Rufus, instead of doing this mission in 3 days from now, we will have to have it finished by tonight. So there is no excuse to be wasting time," he saidlooking from Reno toElena and back again. "Everyone be ready at the helicopter dock by eighteen hundred hours."

And with that, Tseng assembled his papers, stood up and left behind the 3 other Turks. Silence permeated the air until Elena finally growled at Reno, "Rough night?"

Reno threw his head back and laughed loudly. She was just too easy!

Elena shot up from her seat and was about to jump across the table when a pair of arms unexpectedly grabbed hold of her. She momentarily stopped fighting when a feeling of déjà vu struck her. She remembered that someone had held her the same way last night. Turning her brown (did I get it right?) gaze to look behind her, she saw that Rude was holding her thus preventing her from permanently damaging Reno's face.

Rude was looking at her, well Elena thought he was. His dark shades didn't make it easy to see his eyes though.

"Relaxed now?" he asked her after she stopped struggling.

"Yes, I'm good. Thanks."

Rude's nod was faint as he let her go silently hoping that she wasn't going to lunge at Reno again. Keeping those two apart was becoming a hassle. Elena was a little surprised at the familiarity of his touch. Was it him that had caught her at the party? Or could it just be from the fact that he had stopped her numerous times from hurting the red head? She couldn't really tell.

Rude's lips suddenly formed into a smirk as he looked at Reno's direction. When Elena turned to look at where Reno had been sitting she was astonished to see the seat empty.

Reno had snuck out! How dare that carrot top escape from her?

"Remember the mission Elena," reminded Rude.

Elena steadily replied, "I never forget a mission."

Rude nodded once again, admiring her determination and motioned for her to precede him out the door. She liked this gentlemanly side of him, unlike Reno who probably didn't even know it was a word in the English language. Elena walked out with Rude right behind her and turned left while he went the opposite way.

After all each one had their own routine when it came to getting ready for a mission. Tseng would be in his office meticulously studying the layouts and blueprints of the area, setting the proper strategy. Rude would go to the firing range, shoot a few rounds and use several other weapons to get himself focused. Reno, wellshe had no clue where he went or what he did before a mission but he always seemed to disappear.

What Elena did was pretty basic, she went to the weapons holding department where the majority of Shinra's weapons were kept and picked the weapons she would be using. She selected each gun, materia and knife with delicate care. It was her perfect moment of Zen.

But had she known what was waiting for her in the weapons department, she would have come in guns blazing.

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Yeah it was a long time since an update but here it is. Hope it is still good cause I think I lost my mojo! Not the mojo! Anything but the mojo! Reviews? Sniff, I miss my mojo... 


	5. Day 1: Afternoon: Weapon's storage

I was visited by the Mojo fairy earlier this week, had a wonderful conversationabout mojoism. Needless to say she gave me my groove back. Hope you all enjoy! Oh and I found the story's events to have been going a bit slow, so I speed things up in this chapter! Maybe a little too much (hint hint, wink wink ... yes i need to get out more) So Elena has brown eyes and Reno blue. Took me a few chapters but I think I got it now.

Oh and i dont know anything about guns soI just used really cool sounding words.

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Elena briskly walked towards the weapons storage room, choosing to use the stairs instead of the elevator. She didn't want to risk being stuck with Reno in there again. Who knows what would happen if they were in a cramped space together. Luckily her hangover was but a bad memory now. Since she had gotten to work earlier that day, she had many more new and worse memories added to her repertoire.

Shaking her head, Elena quickly climbed the stairs two by two trying to get her mind off of her personal problems, after all she had work to take care of now.

The blonde woman quickly opened the door leading to the 66th floor and made her way towards a plain looking door not bothering to acknowledge anyone's presence. The other Shinra workers didn't mind, in fact they would rather not be approached by a Turk because rarely did you make it out alive.

As she got to the door, Elena automatically input the code into the security lock. Almost immediately a strident beep resonated, signaling the code was accepted and the door had been unlocked.

The petite Turk entered and quietly closed the door behind her. The weapon's room was quite large with many black metallic cabinets arranged parallel of each other. The cabinet themselves contained several dozen weapons, held everything from knives, swords, guns, rifles, materia and other paraphernalia for every of soldiers Shinra employed. In order to protect the various items, the cabinets were custom designed with steel enforced doors with a mechanical lock on them which could only be accessed by proper individuals.

No special time was wasted on decoration however. The walls were painted a dull black shade matching the dreary shelves. So basically the color pattern was a nice depressing black with a hint of colorfulmetal grey. Elena barely registered any of this as she made her way towards the semi-automatic gun section, too intent on getting ready for the upcoming mission.

One of the main overhead lights continuously flickered as it struggled to keep shinning. Its futile struggle just made half the room dark for several minutes and then lit for a while, irritating the woman in the process. Elena glared at the ceiling and once she did, the light made a pathetic electric noise and turned off, as if it had waited for the blonde to acknowledge its existence all along.

Now that it had turned off, the space around her seemed oddly quiet and shadowed.

Well of course it was quiet, Elena scolded herself. It was a room full of inanimate objects.

Squaring her shoulders, she advanced confidently towards a specific shelf and put her right hand on the small computer screen so it could analyze her fingerprints.

A red light screened her hand up and down. Finally an unlocking sound was heard from behind the metal and the cabinet doors automatically opened.

A small smile formed on her light pink lips as her eyes roamed over the shining and polished metal of the many guns snuggled tightly in their foam like resting place. Elena immediately reached in and grabbed the 9mm, relishing in the feel of the cold, deadly metal in her hands.

Elena was about to insert a charged clip into the when she heard a soft swooshing noise. Quickly she looked around but didn't see anything. Without hesitation, she loaded her gun and took off the safety.

She wasn't about to be paranoid and inspect the room with a loaded gun in her hand. Instead she opted to leave it at her side.

As a Turk, she knew of the secret dangers of working in the Shinra building. Hojo's lab had hundreds of test specimens, each crazier and deadlier than the last. It wasn't unheard of that a few of them escaped and went on a rampage.

Elena returned to the guns, still alert but trying to enjoy herself. The odds that there was someone else here was slim because she hadn't heard anyone access the security lock on the outside of the door.

However she stopped her examination of the many weapons when she felt a tingling in her spine. The Turk knew from experience that it meant someone was behind her.

Without hesitation she brought up her loadedweapon and turned to point it at whoever was there. But to her surprise, there was no one.

"Hmm," she said to herself as she lowered her gun. "I could have sworn there was someone there." Usually her instincts were right on. Maybe she was losing her mind, she thought as she rubbed her temple. That could potentially explain her memory lapse of last night.

Damnit, why was she still thinking about it? Maybe it wouldn't bother her if she stopped thinking about the event, ignored it ever happened and moved on with her life.

Yeah and chocobos can fly.

Elena didn't even know if she could choose to forget it. After all every time she'd go home, she would be reminded of what might have happened and then her mind would make horrifying assumptions and it would just send her over the edge. Then she would probably drink to force herself to forget and once again she would wake up with a hangover and no recollection of what had transpired the night before. It was a damn cycle! A cycle of hangover doom!

No, she had to have the answers no matter what.

Suddenly another whooshing sound was heard, causing Elena to glare in its direction. However with the bad lighting, she couldn't see much so she might have just been glaring at air molecules.

Elena silently made her way towards where she had heard the sound last not bothering to have her weapon in front of her. She really doubted anyone in Shinra could disarm a Turk. Abruptly the tingling in her spine started again and she stilled her steps. Without a second thought Elena twirled her upper body with her gun ready to fire but the person had anticipated her reaction.

Firm hands grabbed her wrist, twisting it at the same time causing Elena to drop her weapon. It landed with a metallic clang onto the floor. She tried to see the attacker's face but all she saw was a tall form. The man, she assumed, quickly closed the space between them, not letting go of her wrists as he pushed her against the wall causing her to wince when her back hit the wall.

Elena didn't waste any time in bringing up her knee to get him where it hurt but his legs pinned hers. She managed to free her right hand and quickly grabbed his hair in an attempt to pull him away. However when she made contact with it, she noticed it was in a long ponytail.

A loud growl soon followed.

"I am going to kill you, I don't care if there are witnesses, I will kill you!" she yelled furiously into his face.

"Is killing a metaphor for something in your vocabulary? You seem to use that word quite a lot," replied Reno. If there had been enough light, Elena would have seen his famous arrogant smile.

"What kind of games are you playing with me?" Elena asked, some of her initial fury giving way to depression.

Twin red eyebrows shot up at the mention of games. "Not those kinds of games Elena, well unless you want to."

Reno smiled slyly and waited for Elena to answer but all he got was an ice cold glare, which he didn't see but oddly enough, felt. At least he had tried. She might think he was stalking her, but Reno had a well thought out plan he was currently acting out.

His hands suddenly let go of Elena's wrists. She was relieved to have her hands back but his closeness was disturbing. The young woman was massaging her wrists when she felt his hands reach up to her throat and roll down the turtleneck, where the marks were. She didn't try to shoo him off as his thumb circled one spot near her ear lobe making her jolt. Elena was about to purr but stopped herself instantly.

What was going on!

Her soggy mind kept trying to remember what she was supposed to be doing but his fingers were absolutely hypnotizing. They traced her jaw line, from her chin all the way to her ear and thenback again in one swift and languid movement. Elena closed her eyes to savor his movements, thankful for the fact that he couldn't see her face.

She kept her hands limp at her sides because she didn't dare touch him. She was afraid of what would happen if she got her hands on him. Would she kill him or have her way with him?

Reno meanwhile was trying to keep his breathing steady. He had not anticipated her reaction to be so fast and it had taken him by surprised at first. But now he was really enjoying himself. He lowered his head towards hers, just close enough to be near her lips without actually touching them. He was pleased when Elena didn't move her head away.

Reno kept one hand around her neck and the other he placed under her chin, lifting it slowly. He smiled again when she didn't resist. He iddly wondered if she would ever resist him.

Elena wasn't even paying attention to his closeness anymore because she was trying not to moan out loud. She was more interested in his skilled fingers circling her soft spots. At that moment she didn't care what had happened earlier, even less what had happened 24 hours ago. All that mattered were his hands and the way they moved. Maybe all those company rumors were true.

Elena was surprised to find herself thinking what else he could do with his body, but that thought left as quickly as it came.

After a while his hands stilled on her neck. A quiet moment passed in which neither really moved. His fingers seemed to have found exact locations where they just rubbed for a few minutes.Eventually he just kept them there as if he had found what he was looking for but he did not let go of her chin.

Reno finally whispered, almost against her lips, "These on the other hand, I did."

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Ok what that good or just meh? Reviews? 


	6. Day 1: Afternoon: Weapon's storage 2

Hello once again. I am sick and my allergies are killing me. They are two completely separate things by the way. Ughhhhhhh… I can't stop coughing and I am itchy but only my fingers, elbows and knees. Benadryl is my new best friend. And as a bonus makes me drowsy so I sleep : ) So here is another chapter cause I felt like doing something other than dying of my white blood cells inability to kick some bacterial ass! They shame their master.

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Never had words felt more like a bucket of ice water than they did right now to Elena. Her worst fears had indeed been answered, not exactly the way she had expected though. As she was about to push him away and beat his face in with her shoe, Elena got another idea. After all two can play this game. And she never liked losing.

Reno didn't appear to have realized what he had just said or he simply didn't care but it was going to be his downfall Elena thought.

She was going to use it to her advantage.

Unexpectedly the petite blonde snuggled closer to Reno causing the red head to jerk under this newfound closeness, although he almost as quickly relaxed. Elena had to repress a smile at how easy this was going to be. Why didn't she think of this before? Well maybe cause he irritated her so.

She let her hands roam his body, slowly but firmly. Elena was surprised at how easily her hands touched his body. She kept telling herself it was professional on her end and had to be done. It had absolutely nothing to do with how well toned his muscles felt under his white shirt. Good god, did the man live in a gym?

Her fingers trailed upwards over his chest and over his shoulders until she had her arms around his neck. By now Reno was forgetting how to breathe, blink and what was his name again? Saying that he was surprised by Elena was an understatement. He had never thought she had _this_ in her, something she hadn't bothered to show last night. And damn did he miss out!

Reno didn't waste any time in pulling her even closer to him. He let his mouth roam over Elena's neck, silently pleased at the sharp intake of breath from his fellow Turk.

Elena was trying her best to focus on the matter at hand. She couldn't get lost in Reno's Muscle Fun Land now! She needed answers first, then Fun Land! Wait no! No Fun Land… ever. Especially not Reno's Fun Land.

"So tell me," Elena practically purred in his ear. "What exactly did you do to me last night?"

"I saved you," he mumbled against her skin, not in the least bothered by the question as he continued to explore her neck.

Saved her? How in the world had he saved her? Elena remembered being drunk, tripping on her own feet and being caught by someone. So it had been Reno after all. Some of the pieces were beginning to fit now. Did he mean he had saved her from making a fool of herself in front of everyone, especially her superiors?

But then she saw herself in a dark parking lot, alone, trying to make her way towards her car. The dull silence of the night pierced only by the loud sound her heels made when they connected with the asphalt. Her head was spinning and she had needed to stop a few times to take deep breaths in order to stop herself from throwing up right away. How she had managed to stand upright through all that was beyond her.

At one point she stopped walking to rummage through her purse to get her keys out. But her numb fingers had let them fall to the ground. Clumsily, she bent down to grab them when out of nowhere she was pushed forward. As quickly as her drunken mind could send the necessary electric impulses, she turned to face whoever had attacked her.

Elena remembered seeing black shoes and pants before she was abruptly pulled up and pushed against the nearest car.

The next thing she heard was fabric ripping.

Yes, that is what happened Elena thought furiously. She could feel it; she was very close to the truth now, as if at any moment it would all come back to her. It was right on the tip of her brain, just within her grasp. All she had to do was think.

The ripping sound she now so clearly remembered must have been her black, expensive dress! The one that had been lying on her bathroom floor that very morning!

"You ripped my dress!" she yelled as she pushed Reno away from her causing him to stumble backwards at her unexpected outburst.

"I…wha? You're not even wearing one!" he said, confusion evident in his tone.

"I know what we did last night!" she hissed, her teeth bared in a snarl.

A moment of silence passed before Reno replied, his voice even. "What do you know?"

If Elena didn't know any better she would have thought that he was suddenly on his guard. But why would he be? She shook her blond head and immediately dismissed the idea.

"In the parking lot, you pushed me and ripped my dress when you tried to pull me up. You must have been as drunk as I was," Elena scoffed.

Reno thought for a while digesting what she just said. Well she was beginning to regain some of her drunken memories back but not all of it. Good, that meant he could still manipulate her thinking.

"Oh right, right, now I remember," Reno added enthusiastically, smacking his forehead for emphasis. He backed up until he felt the smooth surface of metal behind him. Letting himself lean against the weapon container, he listened intently for any move Elena would make.

Elena couldn't help but be suspicious of him. Something was beginning to seem too weird, even for Reno. When she had mentioned the dress incident he didn't seem to know what she was taking about. Maybe he also didn't remember what happened because he had been too drunk. So why tell her something that he might not even remember?

The young woman was starting to see a pattern emerge although it could still be a coincidence. As quietly as she could she approached Reno, which was made harder by the fact that the light was barely shinning on them. After a few misses she felt Reno's jacket on her fingertips. Without hesitation she gripped on to make sure he wasn't going to run away.

"You're keeping something from me aren't you?" Elena accused him, poking his chest with her index finger.

"Like what?" he replied tauntingly. He couldn't help but want to get a reaction out of her. "What deep dark secret am I keeping from you?"

"I don't know but I am beginning to think that there is more to this than you are letting on."

As Elena was about to turn around and leave, Reno grabbed her hand to stop her.

"You need to let it go Elena," he said calmly but seriously, not letting go of her.

She stood frozen by his words. Elena had rarely if ever heard Reno serious and it freaked her out, like if she saw a talking chocobo reciting poetry. What was he warning her from?

"Why?" she asked.

Reno dropped her hand so he could rub his forehead. "Just trust me on this," he said wearily. He was beginning to think that he should have ignored all her questions until she eventually just let it go. But no he had to play with her. When would he learn to stop being so damn impulsive?

Then on the other hand, these last few moments with Elena would have never happened had he not been cocky. And so at that instant Reno decided that he would do his best to keep Elena from really knowing what happened. It was for the best, especially for her.

"Me? Trust you? Nice try Reno," Elena said as she laughed. He couldn't be serious. Sure she trusted him on missions, but in normal everyday life, she'd rather have an electric collar put on him that would prevent the mischievous red head from doing anything dumb or irresponsible.

"Just tell me the truth."

Reno didn't hesitate as he talked rapidly, "You know what happened. We got drunk, went to your place and the rest is history so there! Now if you don't mind I have to go get ready for the mission." And with that Reno left in a huff, the strident ping sound of the door being unlocked the only sign he was gone.

However Elena didn't notice any of this because she her shock was so intense. Now she knew for sure something was wrong with Reno. She still had her doubts before he left but now she knew that he was really keeping something from her and it had to do with what he said.

Never before, in all her time working for the Turks, had she heard him say that he needed to get ready for a mission.

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Ooooh so all is not as it seems. Yeah a more serious chapter but it had to be done. I had a general idea for this story but now it seems I might deviate from it. Had this done a week ago but forgot. Heh heh oops, no tomato throwing please! Reviews? 


	7. Day 1: Late Night: Shinra Building

Good morning campers! Hey look... an update!

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A black, military helicopter flew through the night air at frightening speed towards the tall Shinra building. Noisily, it landed on its roof immediately letting out four individuals. It had only been 28 hours earlier that they had left the same building to take care of business.

The main target had been eliminated with a few unimportant casualties along the way. In other words everything had went rather well. No one had seen a single Turk enter the building, nor had they even heard them coming. Rufus Shinra would be pleased once Tseng briefed him.

The dead man had been the leader of a weapon selling organization known as Acta 3. It had been a top priority for Shinra to find and eliminate the mastermind behind the group. But what Rufus really wanted to know most was how they were able to get their hands on some of Shinra's deadliest weapons, some still in the prototype stage. Such an event meant there was someone inside the company working for the enemy and that was simply unacceptable.

The Turks had been ordered to gather as much intelligence as possible once on the inside. Elena and Tseng had hacked into their computer systems while Reno and Rude had been let loose to take care of any problem that came about. Elena was able to retrieve, along with Tseng's help, several vital files from their computers. Some were heavily encrypted and would require further time to decipher, but it could be done with Shinra's powerful computers. Elena was already thinking of the many long hours she was going to spend in front of a computer screen, slowly losing her vision to the painfully fluorescent screen.

The sleep deprived group groggily ran from the helicopter's still swirling blades, crouching slightly to minimize being overcome by the wind. Elena kept trying to keep her hair out of her mouth, while Reno and Tseng had their hair tied in a ponytail. The only one who didn't seem to mind was Rude, bless his bald head.

The blonde woman was the first to get to the door so she typed in the proper code. After a quick beep, the doors swung open letting in the four heavily armed people. They all remained silent as they entered the elevator, a comfortable silence achieved only through several near death experiences amongst individuals.

Rude was adjusting his sunglasses, Reno was yawning not bothering to cover his mouth and Tseng was looking at his nails wondering how blood had gotten there. Elena meanwhile was trying to stop herself from blinking otherwise her eyes might not open again. The adrenaline had long left her system, leaving it tired and depleted.

As always after a mission, they were going to the Turk level of the building to pack up their things and go home for some much needed sleep. They would take care of the rest in the morning.

Eventually the doors opened and each Turk went to their respective offices muttering a low goodnight to each other. Elena was trying really hard not to drag her feet but it was becoming difficult. Her automatic weapon hung loosely around her right shoulder bumping her hip with each step she took. A small black backpack was strapped solidly to her back, containing several grenades, extra ammunition and the newly acquired files on five separate disks.

The blonde woman entered her office, kicked the door closed and went towards the desk. She turned on the table lamp and began unpacking her backpack. She took out the disks first putting them in the safe every office was equipped with. That done, she took off her automatic weapon, rapidly followed by the silencer attached to her left thigh. Brown eyes examined the three materia fixed to the gun, but laziness overcame and she just threw it on her desk not bothering to remove the orbs from the weapon.

Elena continued to de-weaponize until she finally just had her everyday silver firearm in her hand, which she slipped into the inside of her pants, the rest being on her desk.

She didn't feel like changing right now. Her combat attire was made of a tight rubber like material that took a while to take off. Every Turk had such a suit for missions that were expected to last more than 24 hours. The rubber material was specially designed to prevent hypothermia, was waterproof and it let the skin breathe so there was no chance of overheating. And it was tight enough so that in hand to hand combat, the enemy wouldn't be able to grab on to anything.

Automatically she grabbed her keys from her desk and turned off the light. She didn't bother to see if her teammates were still in their offices, she just wanted to go home and sleep.

Before she knew it, Elena was walking in the Shinra parking lot, keys ready to unlock her car. She had a feeling of déjà vu, and she remembered doing the same thing as she left the Shinra birthday bash.

Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed her upper arm. Elena immediately brought her fist up but once she turned around, it was just Rude.

"Damnit Rude, you could have just said something to get my attention!" she snapped at him.

Rude nodded silently at her logic.

"So?" the much smaller Turk asked.

"Reno asked me to walk you to your car."

Elena blinked a few times wondering if she heard right. "Excuse me? He asked you to walk me to my car?" She paused a moment, digesting it all. "What he thinks I am going to collapse from one long mission?"

Rude took a step back from the angry woman.

Elena was absolutely fuming. She had thought they were past the sexism issues they had in the early days, but it seemed she had been wrong. Suddenly, a sweet smile formed on her lips and Rude took another long step back.

"It's ok Rude, you don't need to hold my hand and take baby steps to my car. It's not that far and as you can see I am wide awake. So you are officially relieved of your duty. Good night."

And with that dismissal, Elena turned sharply and walked to her car, not bothering to see if Rude had left. Once at her car, she unlocked the door and slipped into the driver's seat. She removed the gun from her pants and threw it onto the passenger seat. Calmly, Elena buckled her seat belt and put her hands on the steering wheel.

She remained so until finally she snapped and started punching the wheel with her open palms.

"That two-faced… red-haired rat… going to kill him… ARGH!" she yelled as she continued pounding her fury at the car.

"Something tells me you are angry," said a masculine voice from behind her.

Elena rapidly turned around only to see no one. After a few seconds of staring into thin air, a hand popped up and pinched her nose.

The blonde looked down and saw Reno lying on his back, eyes closed. He still wore his combat clothes just like her, but he had pulled down the front zipper of his black top revealing a black tank top underneath. No wonder she hadn't seen him when she was entering her car, he was like a black dot in her backseat. Only his pale skin and red hair differentiated him from the background.

Elena tried to grab his throat from her seat but he quickly moved until he was sitting comfortably away from her. Finally she gave up her quest to rip out his jugular and turned away from him.

"How did you get into my car?" she huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

He stared at her for a while and finally answered, "Lock pick. You make things way too easy for me."

Elena shot him a glare hoping she could one day turn him to stone.

"Fine what are you doing in my car then?"

Lean shoulders shrugged in response as he continued to look at something out the window. "I knew you'd refuse Rude's offer to walk you to your car, so I decided to wait."

Was she really that predictable, Elena's tired mind wondered. Wait, she was missing the point. "Get out Reno," she said, pinning him with a tired glare, but a glare no less.

With the few lights glowing in the Shinra parking lot, Reno's twin scars seemed more visible on his pale cheeks making him look dangerous, predatory even. She had always wondered how he had gotten them, but it was a subject never brought up at work. It was such a stark contrast from the joker she was so used to. Elena wouldn't want to be in a fight against this different man sitting casually in her backseat.

Reno noticed that she was looking at him oddly but didn't know why. Her eyes kept roaming his face as if searching for something and unconsciously he narrowed his crystal blue eyes. Elena immediately blushed but surprising didn't look away.

"How about we make a deal?" the red haired man said, idly stretching to make himself more comfortable. "Drive to your place and I'll walk to my apartment from there."

Elena continued looking at him, still unsettled by how different he seemed to be in the night. Even his movements seemed to be more fluid, but it could just be her vision getting blurry from lack of sleep. Elena snapped herself out of the trance and turned the key in the ignition.

The drive was done in silence; Elena because she wanted to focus on what she was doing and Reno because he was falling asleep, his red head bobbing with the flow of the car.

A loud slam eventually woke him up and left him a little confused. It took him a while to figure out that Elena had slammed the door. Blue eyes focused on where he was and sure enough, they were parked not far from Elena's apartment building. Reno quickly got out of the car and followed Elena who had almost reached the front door.

Reno closed the distance between them in a few long strides not bothering to look both ways before crossing the street.

Elena was closing the door when he inserted his foot to prevent it from locking him out. The sleepy blonde didn't seem to notice but truth was she didn't really care. She let Reno follow her up the stairs to the third floor because if she were to start a fight with him, she could kiss her rest goodnight.

At last they reached her door and as Elena was about to put the key into the lock she turned around to look at Reno, "I thought you said you were going to leave once I drove you to my apartment."

Reno smiled slightly at her and sneakily took the keys out of her hand. Without waiting for her reaction, he unlocked the door and let himself in, turning the lights on. Elena watched, horrified, as Reno casually walked into her home, her sanctuary, her abode, her haven, her refuge… her personal things!

Diplomacy for the sake of sleep was all but forgotten as Elena yelled, "Get the hell out or I will personally throw you out! And I don't mean through the door!"

The taller Turk didn't pay attention to her rambling as he began checking the windows in the living room. Satisfied at what he saw, he turned to go into the next room, which was her bedroom, when he suddenly fell onto the floor.

His head connected with the floor causing flashing pain to spread through his skull. He didn't remember tripping on anything. Was it sleep finally catching up with him? Before he could get up, Reno felt a pressure on his chest preventing him from standing. He didn't remember sleep having such an attitude. When he opened his eyes, he saw it was actually Elena's booted foot.

"What was that for?" he asked roughly, rubbing the back of his head.

Elena merely put more of her weight on his chest causing Reno to grunt at the additional heaviness.

"I want to know," Elena said icily. "What you are doing looking through my apartment like that!"

"Looking for decoration tips?" he asked cheekily.

Elena was about to jump on his chest with both feet when a knock came from the front door. Before she could get to it, Reno was in front of her pushing her back with his arm, as if shielding her with his body. Elena was so surprised at how he had gotten up that she didn't even notice the sudden appearance of a gun in his hand.

With a quick motion, Reno opened the front door and pointed the gun at the man standing on the opposite side.

"What is it?" Reno asked, his voice devoid of any pleasantness.

The short bald man dressed in pajamas and chocobo slippers was visibly shaking at the dangerous looking man pointing a rather dangerous weapon at this head.

"I… I was trying to sleep… I heard yelling from here," he managed to stutter in between violent shakes.

Reno lowered his gun knowing this man posed no danger. Immediately his famous smirk appeared as he said, "Well you know how rowdy blonde chicks can be." And with that he winked at pajama man and closed the door in his shocked face.

"That was fun," Reno muttered to himself as he took in a deep breath. He couldn't believe he had almost blown the guy's head off. He knew that Elena was a Turk and could defend herself in the worst of situations, but after what had almost happened to her two nights ago it had made him wary.

Elena approached him, her arms crossed in barely restrained anger as her nails managed to dig through the strong military material and into her arms. She was waiting for him to explain but all he did was turn his head to look at her. Reno remained silent, his deep blue eyes just staring into her chocolate ones. Elena couldn't tell why he was looking at her so but it made her feel exposed. She had never, ever seen him this serious, not even when one of them got hurt on a mission. She couldn't take the tension and focused on a spot to the right of him.

"Just making sure you're safe."

Elena's head slowly turned back to Reno, but he had the door already open and was walking away. Without looking back at her, he left. Eventually the woman ran out and looked in the direction he had left.

"Wait Reno, safe from what?" she yelled into the empty hallway, half-hoping he would answer and half-hoping he wouldn't.

Instead, a muffled, "Please, I am trying to sleep!" resounded from one of the neighboring doors.

Well it wasn't what she had wanted to hear but it was going to have to do. Elena exhaled loudly and slammed the door.

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Okay here it is, my half-ass job at an update. I dont know why but I am not satisfied with this chapter. Well hopefully it will satisfy any cravings you have for an update and let's hope the next chapter will be typed faster... and better. Damn that Mojo Fairy!


	8. Day 2: Morning: Elena's office

Umm... how do i start? Oh yes: Please dont kill me and/or use black magic against me (it tickles you know). If you need to blame anyone, blame the Mojo Fairy!!! I do! It's freaking midnight and this is the hour she gives me ideas! WTF? I am sorry i didnt update more, but i never ever forgot this story, nor will in the near future. I just didnt have any good ideas.

OOOOOHHH and a big thank you to Maarit/Athamaarit who sent me a pic she drew of the scene between Reno and Elena in the weapons storage room. I giggled the entire day! Here is the link:

**http (double dot or colon) // www (dot) deviantart (dot) com/deviation/50143338/**

HOPE IT WORKS. If it doesnt, pls someone tell me! There are 2 other pictures of Reno i find absolutely hilarious, so check them out too!

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Elena was in her office trying desperately to focus on the computer screen in front of her. If she didn't know any better, she could swear the screen was getting brighter, as if slowly trying to fry her retinas, extra crispy. 

She had spent the last five hours sitting in her office in the same seat decoding the encrypted files the Turks had gotten last night. Quite frankly, her bum was numb beyond belief. Usually she would have been at least half way done by now, but her mind kept wandering to Reno. And it was annoying her to no end. Her brain was against her it seemed.

Why was he being so damn cryptic? He was like the quizmaster from hell! She had tried getting the answer out of him violently and peacefully. So basically she had tried everything. What else was there to do, she thought frantically. Her brown eyes focused on a distant corner, work momentarily forgotten as she tried to think things through logically and rationally.

One thing she was sure of is that if Reno wanted to be entertained he could forget it! She was done trying to persuade him to explain what happened between them. If she just ignored it now, maybe it would all go away and in time she'd forget about the whole incident. After all it was like a bad toothache. You just had to ignore it long enough… take a few strong pills… keep ignoring it… and then see a dentist for him to yank the now infected tooth out like a misbehaved turnip. But the point is there would be some form of anesthesia. Ok, completely wrong metaphor.

Oh blissful, blissful ignorance, how she craved it!

But the first step to a Reno free mind was getting back to work. Shaking her blond bob, she straightened her back and immersed herself into the computer world once again. Many more hours passed with her filtering through the data and collecting whatever seemed even remotely important. Most of the information had to do with financial transactions, probably all illegal as the names seemed to be aliases. Who had the unfortunate luck to have been named Coco Grapefruit? Or Omni Present? Yeah, definitely aliases.

There were, however, a few very interesting files. Elena wasn't sure but she guessed that they were locations of warehouses for Acta 3. Since they had only eliminated the leader of the organization last night, things would be difficult for a while for the remaining members. This was a chance for Shinra to really do some lasting damage if not total destruction of the group, and she could be the one to start it all if she could gather enough info.

However since there were no real names in any of the files, Elena could not be sure who the actual infiltrators in Shinra were. There had be at least a few of them, it simply could not be the work of a single person. What was scary was that they had to be organized within Shinra itself. This meant a few people from several departments were spilling some of the company's most top-secret information. They had even managed to smuggle out a few of the prototype weapons right from under security's noses and that took some serious planning.

Elena quickly accessed the Shinra employee file, her fingers quickly typping away at the keyboard when a melodic whistling broke her concentration. It took a moment to realize that it was someone whistling and not just her mind playing tricks on her.

Automatically she tuned the annoyance out, she was finally finding her way through the fog of data and no disturbance was too great to stop her. Her focus solely on her work, she barely noticed as a red head passed by, the jolly tune of 99 bottles of beer escaping his whistling lips. Silence quickly ensued as Reno calmly, well as calmly as Reno could do something, walked away. It would take a few more hours for her to realize that Reno had passed by her office and hadn't even bothered her, not even a little!

Well that was one for the books. Oddly enough, this event gave Elena some hope for the future. Maybe she wouldn't be going to jail for killing the alcoholic maniac after all, she though happily. The small Turk was so thrilled, she didn't even notice she was unconsciously whistling the 99 bottles of beer song as she pressed the print button. She didn't even pay attention while she waited for the familiar whirl of the machine to kick into life and start spewing papers.

It was when the printer had finally stopped that it dawned on her what she was humming and more importantly, why. She stopped herself immediately, forcefully rubbing a spot right above her right eyebrow.

"Like a freaking epidemic the man is," she muttered under her breath. Well now she was going to have that song stuck in her head for the rest of the day. Just great.

Automatically Elena neatly stapled the many papers and put them in the document holder she had prepared before. Satisfied that it all looked professional, she rapidly exited her small office in the direction of Rufus's much larger and opulent one. She had a meeting to attend to, plans to uh plan, and things to ignore!

Her steps were confident and strong, although she was slightly nervous on the inside. Rufus always managed to do that with his cool blue eyes that stared unflinchingly at anyone he directed his gaze upon. Even his crisp white suit seemed to scream: "fear me!" But he was her boss and no matter how much he intimidated her, Elena still had to deliver her report to him.

It didn't take long to reach the top floor. She only had to go up 3 flights of stairs to reach his office. Rufus liked having the Turks nearby just in case. The blonde had opted to use the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. Nodding once to the secretary that was seated behind a large desk, Elena continued walking down the long hallway finally reaching the majestic double oak doors of Rufus Shinra's office.

Consciously she straightened her dark business suit knowing full well that she had no reason to allow her vanity to take over. It was simply a girl thing, something even this deadly Turk couldn't control. She always got the feeling that no detail went unnoticed by the young president, so in a way, she was right to watch her appearance she argued. Her loose black pants had been ironed that morning, so they were perfectly angled. You could practically cut bread on them. Her jacket was fully buttoned and the silky white blouse underneath could rival even the president's suit! Oh yes, she was ready!

However what she was not ready for what hearing a pair of voices seemingly arguing coming from inside the grand office. It didn't take long to notice that the doors weren't fully closed, almost as if someone hadn't paid enough attention to what they were doing.

Against her better judgment, Elena approached the doors carefully and leaned in a little to better hear what was going on. She immediately recognized the owners of both voices, Rufus and Reno. Reno was perceptively louder than Rufus, making Elena wonder what exactly he had to be angry about.

Suddenly her eyes widened as she heard her name being mentioned from inside the room. They were discussing her?!

"You don't seem to understand Rufus, I'm serious! You got to watch out for Elena, or at the very least have someone keep an eye on her!" Reno practically shouted at the young president.

"Reno I am sure that there is nothing to worry about," Rufus answered calmly, his voice not betraying any emotion. "If, and I do mean if, something happens, I'll take care of it then."

"Oh sure let's just wait for the worst to happen and then act!" mocked Reno. "Why Mr. President, I am so relieved with your plan that I feel like I should be skipping around and giving free parents to orphans!"

By now both voices had calmed down and Elena was having difficulty hearing them well. She pressed her ear as hard as she could against the wall but it didn't help much.

A loud sigh escaped Rufus's mouth as he said, "Reno, I understand that you are worried. Actually no, I don't really understand because you're never worried. What happened to change your mind?"

Elena could hear the president's curiosity even a room apart, but she had to hand it to him, he knew how to direct a conversation.

"Oh come on!" Reno whined. "Just do something powerful and presidential, it's all I'm asking."

A quick silence ensued, as if Rufus was trying to decipher what Reno had actually meant. However instead of a question, Rufus simply stated, "You know something."

Now it was Reno's turn to grow silent. Finally when he spoke, she couldn't hear anything until Elena heard three little words that shattered her world beyond compare.

"Elena is danger."

If Elena hadn't been leaning against the door she would have fallen flat on her face as his words echoed through her head, over and over.

Reno… he… he didn't trust her? After all they've been through, he thought she was a threat? To him? To Shinra? To the Turks? Shaking her blond head, she tried to steady her uneven breathing. Elena held the document closer to her chest, as a child would a teddy bear when scared, but she wasn't scared. She couldn't quite understand why, but she felt wounded, like someone had splashed her with cold water and then slapped her repeatedly. She knew right from the beginning that Reno was never going to fully trust her because she was the rookie and the girl. But she had thought she had gained at least a fraction of trust from him. Looking down at the floor, she realized just how wrong she was.

But then she quickly grew angry. How dare this arrogant jerk go straight to the president and tell him to watch out for her because she might betray Shinra. Oh Planet, what if Reno thought that she was affiliated with Acta 3 and denounced her to Rufus?

No, that was too paranoid, even for her. She wouldn't let him get to her. She was going to be strong, just like she had survived his insults and jabs when she got hired, Elena would survive his mistrust and suspicions now. And even though they slept together, it wouldn't change anything now. Suddenly, Elena's fury vanished, leaving in its place something akin to sorrow. She closed her eyes to stop the pricking sensation of tears she didn't know would come.

The two men were still talking but it became muffled noise to her ears. All she could hear was the loud thumping of her heart.

She needed to get away.

As quietly as she could, Elena walked away, in the direction of her office. But she stopped, realizing that her office was too obvious a place to stay. Instead, she turned the other way and headed for the first ladies room she could find. Once inside Elena made sure no one was there. Pleased with finding the room empty, the young woman locked the door behind her and approached the large single mirror and faucets.

She let her brown eyes look at the document she had held the entire time, only to realize that the papers were all scrunched up. Great, she was going to have to go to her office after all to reprint her report. And oh peachy, she still had to present the report to Rufus. But that didn't matter compared to what she had just heard.

That meant that Reno had probably just slept with her for the fun of it. Or worse, maybe to gain information from her apartment that would somehow prove he had reason to distrust her. No, that sounded too malicious, even for Reno.

She knew he was a womanizer, so why was she so shocked that he would do the same to her? Had she expected him to be different because they were friends? Well she had thought they were friends, apparently that wasn't the right word for their relationship. Her loud sigh bounced off the ceramic walls, and back to her. For the first time since she had woken up hungover, she relieved that she couldn't remember much from that night.

A bitter laugh escaped her pink lips. How pathetic she must look, hiding in the women's washroom from a guy she had always found aggravating.

"God, what had I expected?" she asked out loud, her tone frustrated as she gripped the sides of her face. Did she unconsciously believe that he would have been different with her, that somehow she was the exception to his rules and he would have treated her differently from all his previous women?

She looked at her reflection for a while contemplating that last question, realizing that yes, she had thought just that.

But that was impossible, she didn't like him! It was Reno, R.E.N.O for God's sakes!!! She had a huge crush on Tseng! Not a secret crush to the point where she didn't even know about on Reno. That defied all logic and natural order and just plain intelligence!

Maybe her whole dentist metaphor could come into play again. If she ignored it long enough, it wouldn't exist and she could just go on pretending she didn't know. It sounded like a good plan, except she didn't think she could do it. On the other hand it was a stupid, little insignificant crush that would go away with time so maybe she didn't even have to do anything at all.

"Ok Elena," she told her reflection, pointing her finger at herself for emphasis. "You know the facts. Reno is arrogant, dependent on multiple death causing activities and above all else doesn't trust you. What are you going to do about it?"

Nothing came to her for a while but then a sweet smiled formed on her lips as she said to herself again, "I am going to rip his shiny red head off!"

Pumping her fist in the air, she came to the conclusion that violence could be the answer to every question. She was going to grab the damn man by the hair, strap him to a chair and dangle a nice, cold, glistening beer right in front of his face! Like a donkey with a carrot.

But first thing's first, Reno and her were no longer friends. Whatever had happened between them was nothing and didn't matter. She would not be anything more than professional with him. It made complete sense, however why did she feel depressed just thinking of cutting him out of her life? She needed to squish such thoughts. Elena forced herself to think back to when she heard him tell Rufus how she was a threat and just as fast, her sentimental thoughts were replaced by burning rage. Even with all his faults, she trusted, _had_ trusted Reno with her life. Now it meant nothing.

Picking up her document, Elena unlocked the door and walked out of the washroom, wondering what the hell she was going to do now. Her plan was disintegrating before her very eyes as she walked closer and closer to her office. Hadn't she just said that she would make him pay? The very thought made her cringe because that would mean additional contact with Reno and she wasn't sure if she could handle it. His words had been too cruel.

Maybe avoiding him for a while would do some good, after all didn't the saying go "run away to fight another day", or something of the sort. Finally inside her office, Elena let her small body fall into the large seat behind her desk, its familiar feel soothing her slightly.

Elena stared out of the door, trying to find some reason behind what Reno had said. Had she said something or done something to him? Was it an elaborate joke? He couldn't really have felt that way towards her all these years and not show it… could he? Not finding her ideas comforting, Elena absently pressed the button and patiently waited for another copy of her report to be printed.

* * *

Silly at the beginning but more serious near the end. My Mojo Fairy is on some really sucky crack. So considering i've been gone for around 6 months, can u guys review and tell me if the chapter meets your expectations? Is it too dramatic or just right? 


	9. Day 2: Afternoon: Rufus' office

Hey hey, I'm back with an update!!

* * *

"Yeah, yeah and a happy day to you too Rufus," mumbled Reno as he purposefully slammed the president's office door behind him. That had been a royal waste of time not to mention Rufus had seemed slightly amused by his unannounced outburst. What had possessed him to get Rufus involved? 

As always in moments of stress, the messy Turk unconsciously slipped a cigarette between his thin lips. He was about to light it when a small yet forceful cough from the secretary brought his blue eyes to meet the unhappy glare of the petite woman's. Right the rules, Reno thought bitterly as he forced a sly smile to grace his handsome features. With exaggerated movements the red head returned the cigarette back into his suit pocket.

He let himself lean against the secretary's desk, ignoring her continued silent glare. Well he hadn't really expected Rufus to do anything, after all Elena was a Turk and only Turks could take care of Turks, something he could easily do himself. It's just he didn't know if he should get mixed up. Then again, wasn't he already?

The secretary's not so subtly clearing her throat broke through Reno's musings but he continued to stare at a point above her head, pointedly ignoring her. She seemed to become more irritated if the strident sound of her long nails tapping her keyboard was anything to go by.

Eventually the red head pretended to be distracted by his flame bangs instead. Lazily, he put his elbows on her desk, head in palms. Azure blue eyes crossed childishly, Reno began to try blowing his hair out of his face all the while happily aware that the secretary was clenching her fists. His eyes absolutely twinkled in glee as he continued with his antics. Reno didn't plan to stop until she at least broke one of those freakishly long nails.

Or if Elena suddenly trotted by at a rapid pace towards Rufus's office! Wow, she was moving way too fast for such a small woman.

"Yo Lena, hold up!" he shouted at her retreating back but she didn't slow down in the slightest, hell she even seemed to speed up. The secretary sighed in relief behind her desk, happy that the devil that was Reno had something else to focus his attention on.

However Reno could tell Elena was angry about something and there was no denying that in those instances the culprit was usually him. What had he done this time?

Elena was about to close the door but Reno was quick enough to manage to stick his foot in, wincing loudly as his foot was squished in the process. Jumping on his good leg, Reno made his way inside, glaring at Elena's back. That had been totally uncalled for.

Rufus meanwhile had to stifle a groan because he had the sudden feeling that things were going to go downhill with these two stuck in his office at the same time.

Reno limped his way to one of the royal red sofas near the long windows and let himself unceremoniously fall on it. Rufus's decorator had chosen to use living room furnishings to make his large office look less like an office and more like a living area. Needless to say, Rufus was still looking for a new decorator.

Elena had ignored Reno's presence until now but it was becoming hard to. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him just laying there, his tall body sprawled on the equally long sofa as if he hadn't denounced her to the president mere moments ago. Oh the nerve of the man!

"Elena," Rufus began. "I had expected your report over an hour ago."

A few years ago, the young woman would have been gulping at such a tone from the President. Now, she merely nodded slightly as she had seen Tseng do it thousands of times after he had to explain to Rufus one of Reno's most recent practical joke. Simply put, it was expected acceptance. Both Tseng and Rufus knew that Reno will play jokes on the employees, it was like the tide or the sun rising, inevitable and utterly unstoppable. Yet they still went on with the farce of trying to control that tendency. They seemed to enjoy talking about disciplinary action more than actually implementing it.

"Yes sir, I was delayed with a few minor details," she explained impassively, not trying to hint at anything.

"Very well, what have you been able to decipher until now?" asked Rufus looking at the document she held in her hands. Without having to be told, Elena approached his desk and handed it to him. He didn't bother opening it and reading the material. Instead his piercing blue eyes pined Elena waiting for her to tell him herself.

Reno, meanwhile, had already made himself comfortable for the long explanation. He had put his hands behind his head on the fluffy pillow, allowing him to have a better view over what was going on.

"I have been able to find a few warehouse locations in Corel, Junon and even in Midgar. The exact locations are in the file, sir. A few seem to be weapons storage facilities, but there are three that are vague." The President slowly inclined his head to show he was listening, but his eyes quickly flickered between Reno and Elena.

"Reno," began Rufus. He stared at the redhead searching for any signs of life. When he heard a grunt he took it as a good indication that Reno was listening. "I want you to pay attention to what Elena is saying now so that you two can be the first Turks at one of these sites. Might as well make some use of your presence here."

"But sir-" protested Elena but was cut off by the President's ice blue stare. That look could stop icebergs in their track. They'd probably even start backing up.

"So Reno consider this your mission briefing. Now sit up and pay attention."

Groaning some, Reno swung his long legs so that he was sitting up, albeit propped on one of the plush pillows. "I am all ears Laney," he drawled.

Rufus leafed through Elena's report stopping when a page caught his eye. "Tell me more about these vague facilities."

"There was no information on those three locations in any of the files we seized sir. All we have is their locality." Elena chanced a glance at Reno to see him looking straight at her, his azure eyes serious and actually paying attention. A little perturbed, the young woman refocused. "The weapon facilities aren't as important as other seizures we've done, but it could help eliminating Acta 3."

Rufus nodded slightly, his eyes trained on the document in hand, one long index finger curled around his chin. "Very well," he glanced up at Elena once more. "We need to act now to make sure they have no where to run when I finally order you to take them all out."

Getting up, he threw the report at Reno who caught it in mid-air thanks to well trained reflexes that not even booze and smokes could destroy. "Read through that, I'm never sure if you actually listened to a word I've said." Rufus automatically adjusted his crisp suit before moving from behind his desk.

"Elena, Reno be ready to go to Midgar first thing tonight," the President said while he walked towards the exit, not bothering to look at anyone. "We'll start by getting rid of them in our own backyard." Elena couldn't help but be amazed at Rufus's ability to make a silly sentence seem so threatening. Just as Rufus was about to open the door, his hand stopped on the knob. Turning around, he pinned Reno with an unusual stare. "I trust you will be on your guard Reno."

Elena was rendered speechless. Was that the president's subtle way of saying that he should beware her or something else? Hello, she was still in the room!!

Reno's smile barely reached his eyes. "Like a fox, sir," he replied.

The corner of Rufus's lips curved up but he didn't say anything else as he slipped out of his office leaving the two Turks inside... alone... the two of them...in a room. Elena didn't waste any time blaming Reno once again.

"YOU!" she yelled as she pointed a small yet very threatening index finger at the red head.

"Me?" Reno squeaked, pointing to himself as well. He was tempted to look behind him just to tick off Elena, but it wouldn't be a healthy move on his part.

She stomped towards the sofas and stood in front of him waiting for an explanation that did not come. "Well?" she said tapping her foot with impatience.

Cautiously, Reno's eyes roamed towards the exit silently wondering if he could make it before she could react. But one look at Elena told him that there was no way he was coming out of this argument unharmed. If only he knew what he had done this time. So he crossed his arms and decided to gain some time. Someone was bound to come into this room soon and interrupt… right?

"Well what Laney? Something on your mind?" Reno couldn't help but sound arrogant. It must have been in his genetics, right beside the part that dictated his drinking behavior and penchant for pretty women. Speaking of pretty women, one was still glaring ferociously at him.

"Yo Elena, lighten up. It's only a mission," he said a little annoyed. He got up from the sofa and walked past Elena to go sit at Rufus's much comfier desk. Without hesitating he propped his feet up on the very expensive wood and snaked his hands behind his head. In mere seconds his crystal blue eyes closed in sheer contentment. How Reno wished he had this chair in his office. Maybe if he had, he would spend more time there, he thought. The way it molded into his back and cushioned his-

SLAM!

Reno abruptly jerked backwards, almost falling to the ground from the sudden loud noise. His hands quickly grabbed on to the edge of the desk just in time to stop his trajectory..

Elena couldn't help but smirk as Reno struggled with keeping his balance. Who would have thought that such a small book could make so much noise once dropped? Happily, Elena took it back and returned it to its specific spot on Rufus's desk lest he should have a heart attack from a disorderly office.

"I know what you told Rufus," she said crossing her arms once more.

Reno's look of confusion just seemed to fuel Elena's ire as he just shook his head in puzzlement. Coming closer, the young blonde pressed her hands on the shiny wood of the desk and leaned forward to better see Reno's reaction. "I heard you tell the President that I was a danger. Don't you dare try to deny it because I was behind the door when you said it," she whispered dangerously, her breath a warm but lethal reminder of how close she was to his face.

Both of Reno's red eyebrows shot up in what she thought was some sign of guilt. But it was more from surprise than anything else. And then Reno did something Elena hadn't expected at all. He began laughing.

"You can't be serious," he said in between small bouts of laughter.

A little offended, Elena's jaw fell open. Looking incredulously at the older Turk, she did the only thing that came to mind. She turned her back on him and began walking away, her steps loud enough to rival Reno's laughing.

"Wait, wait Lena," Reno said as he rapidly jumped out of the luxurious seat. He caught up to Elena just in time as she was about to open the door. Reno immediately placed himself between her and the exit, making the small woman frown some more. Placing his hands on her much smaller shoulders, which he couldn't help but notice the lean muscles underneath, Reno stopped her from moving forward.

Elena was only momentarily shocked at his warm touch, how his much larger hands seemed to completely cover her slender shoulders. However sanity eventually made its presence known and so she backed up a few steps causing his arms to fall to his sides.

The red head smirked a little when she backed away from him. He was slightly satisfied that he had some effect on her as she always seemed too rigid for his taste.

"What you heard was not what I said, yo."

"Oh really," Elena answered a little arrogantly for she knew she was in the right. She knew what she heard and the weasel standing in front of her would not use his charm and charisma to persuade her to the contrary. "I distinctly remember you telling Rufus that I was a danger and how someone should keep an eye on me."

Her brown eyes watched as Reno combed his fingers through his messy hair. She figured he was just wasting time so he could come up with an excuse. Well she wasn't going to let him!

"And another thing," she continued, taking slow steps towards her taller companion. "How dare you think that I am a danger to this company?! I have been nothing but loyal and trustworthy and you go tell the president out of all people, that I am some sort of threat? Well let me tell you something Reno, I am not nor shall I ever be a threat because I am a hard working Turk, unlike you. I follow orders, I don't play pranks on senior officers and I actually do paper work!" As she talked, her voice had steadily been getting louder up to the point where she was shouting in his face.

Reno just stared at her as if he was bored or had entered a very interesting fantasy land. Eventually he said, "So what's your point?"

It took Elena's absolute last strength to stop herself from really tearing him up. "Just get out of my way Reno, I have work to do." She made to move around him but Reno didn't budge an inch. Instead he planted himself firmly on the spot. Elena tried to push him away, even tried to jab his ribs but he still held his place.

"Will you move?" Elena finally yelled at him.

Smiling sweetly, Reno answered, "No."

"And why the hell not?" she yelled even louder this time.

"Because," he explained calmly. "You didn't let me answer."

Elena shook her blond bob sadly. All her fight was gone, what was left almost felt like a loss. "It doesn't matter anymore. I now know your true opinion of me."

She couldn't help it, but it stung to say those words out loud. Letting his long side bang cover one eye, Elena tried once again to grab the doorknob. It shouldn't bother her that he despised her to such an extent, it shouldn't even hurt this bad, she thought desperately to herself. Maybe it was just the unexpectedness of it.

As she reached for it, Reno's hands suddenly covered her own and pulled her into a hug. Elena froze in his embrace, all her muscles tense and alert analyzing what the hell was going on. Seriously, what the hell was going on??? Only moments before she was yelling at him and now he was hugging her? Maybe the rumors were true that Reno enjoyed hard drugs and they had started frying his brain. In all her few years at Shinra, Elena had never seen Reno hug anyone.

"Oh Elena, Lena, Laney, rookie," Reno chuckled fondly at his nicknames. "Why are you always so melodramatic, yo?"

"Mwat?" Elena mumbled into his chest, once again confused by him. She didn't dare put her arms around him because it would feel too intimate for her. However that didn't stop her from enjoying the feeling of being in his arms.

Finally he gently grabbed her upper arms so he could pull them apart. "What I said to Rufus wasn't that you are danger, but that you are IN danger," the male Turk said seriously watching the many displays of emotion cross her lovely features.

"I don't understand."

"Yeah I knew you wouldn't. After all, I am the brains around here," Reno answered teasingly, his blue eyes shining brightly.

Elena's immediate response was to roll her eyes. That small gesture somehow made Reno feel like things were back to normal between them. He might pretend to be a dumb ass most of the time, but even he knew that Elena had been ready to cut him out of her life for good. And that was one thing Reno would not let happen. So no more playing around with her mind, he was just going to go out and say the truth.

"Do you remember Rufus's party a few days ago?"

"Of course I remember Reno," she snapped. "I wasn't that drunk."

Reno's look conveyed his skepticism at her statement. "That is an understatement."

A moment of silence ensued. "Fine," Elena muttered. "I was drunk."

"At least you can admit you have a problem. That's step number one." Before Elena could protest that he was the undisputed king of booze drinking, Reno continued talking. "So at the end of the night, as I was walking out I saw you fumbling for your keys in the parking lot when-."

Suddenly the door swung open hitting Reno squarely in the back sending him directly into Elena. The smaller Turk had trouble keeping them both upright, but through sheer will she succeeded.

Rude slipped quietly into the room, too absorbed in his own report to notice his fellow Turks. He finally looked up only to see Elena and Reno in each other's arms. Only a single eyebrow rose from behind its sunglass prison as Rude asked very politely, "Am I interrupting something, because I can always come back later."

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Well that is that. The truth shall be revealed soon, but i dont want to finish the story in just a few chapters. So i'll figure out some other twist... eventually :D


	10. Day 2: Afternoon: Shinra Building

"Wait Rude!" Elena yelled as she ran after her fellow Turk. Reno meanwhile took him time exiting Rufus' office, quite unlike the frantic exit Elena had managed to do so flawlessly. Arms flaying around, shrieks and curses, the whole lot. He on the other hand, calmly but closely followed behind his coworkers, hands stuffed in his pockets, completely at ease with the recent turn of events. On the contrary, this once again could prove to be amusing. And he was all about the fun, wasn't he?

Rude merely shot Elena glances over his shoulder and couldn't help but smirk a little at her worried look. He only slowed by the secretary's pristine desk to present the document he held. "Give this to Rufus when he comes back," Rude spoke briefly and quickly continued on his way without waiting for a reply.

The secretary smiled faintly at his retreating back, the crisp lines of his Turk suit moving fluently with each strong step he took. But once Reno came into her line of vision, the smile turned into an unhidden scowl. Reno stuck out his tongue at her, but didn't stop trailing Rude and Elena. He figured he tortured the secretary enough… for today.

Reno's blue eyes watched on as Elena's short hair swayed rhythmically with the quick steps she was taking trying to match Rude's longer ones. Rude seemed distracted or uninterested as he kept nodding absently at what the small Turk was saying.

He could hear Elena yapping away, her voice sporadically hitching up an octave or five in her attempt to get Rude's attention. Even though the back of Rude's head faced Reno, the red head could tell what his best friend was thinking by the simple inclination and movement of his bald skull. It had sometimes proven to be even more accurate than actual speech. And right now, Rude wasn't really into what Elena was trying to get through to him. Who could blame him? Reno had already told Rude what had happened between Elena and him.

"Are you even listening?" Elena barely held her anger in check at Rude's constant nodding.

Finally with a huff, Elena placed herself directly in front of Rude thus blocking his path with her small frame. She was slightly relieved that he actually stopped and didn't detour around her. That would have been humiliating, especially with Reno following them. Why was he still around anyway?

She quickly got to the point. "Nothing happened! There was nothing going on when you came in, it was all a misunderstanding. If you'll just let me explain, it's all quite simple-"

"That we don't want anyone to know that we are actually dating," jumped in Reno, putting his arm around her waist and squeezing slightly.

Elena's horror filled expression turned robotically towards the grinning red headed maniac. Reno ignoring her, whispered dramatically to Rude, "It's all hush hush, you know? We just don't want office gossip to start right away, isn't that right pookie?"

Reno faced Elena's gaping one once more and smiled sweetly.

They couldn't tell because of his sunglasses, but Rude's eyes were shifting between his two colleagues at a rather rapid pace. But once again, he nodded and this time said, "Got it."

Elena's immediate reaction was to forcefully extract herself from Reno's arm. "Get your nicotine stained hands off of me!" Quickly turning to Rude who was by now smiling suspiciously, she clarified what was really happening. "Reno is lying, there is nothing going on between us… AT ALL!"

"Aw, come on baby, don't be like that," Reno drawled interrupting her speech. "Rude won't tell anyone, huh buddy?"

Rude merely shook his head no in response.

"See?" asked Reno, his cerulean eyes wide with innocence as he looked into Elena's brown ones. He lied very convincingly.

"Rude don't listen to him!" Elena warned, her voice a low grumble as her bangs fell to cover one eye.

Reno seemed to pause in thought, "But you can't deny what he saw."

The young woman was about to protest once more but then realized he might have a point. "It was still nothing," Elena exclaimed trying to deny him that small victory.

Rude watched their exchange in silence, seemingly forgotten by them both.

"You're right," Reno grinned lavishly, a sly look crossing his features. "_That_ was nothing."

Elena couldn't help but freeze when he said that. Was he implying something? Or was it just part of his joke? Reno didn't seem to notice as he continued talking. "But since Rude now knows, we can make it official. We'll announce it to Rufus and Tseng, the whole world too! Even that noisy secretary down the hall!" he said loudly waving frantically at the woman who quickly went back to pretending to be working instead of eavesdropping. Elena hadn't even noticed that the secretary had been listening. As she didn't want there to be any witnesses, she grabbed hold of Rude's forearm and started walking away from overzealous ears.

Rude glanced questioningly at Reno who just shrugged in response. He didn't know either where she was leading them.

Finally when they stood in front of the elevators, Elena looked both ways to see if there was anyone within hearing distance. Satisfied with what she saw she turned towards Rude, ignoring Reno.

"Nothing happened," she said with as much conviction as she could possibly muster. Elena looked directly into Rude's eyes trying to see what he was thinking. Well, in the general location where she thought his eyes were behind those dark shades. All she could see though was her own reflection looking back at her.

Rude lowered his head so he could better see Reno over his glasses. Casually, he propped them back up his nose with an index finger as a sly smile spread across his lips. "I know."

"You know?" Elena echoed slowly as if her mind had trouble comprehending what she just heard.

"You aren't Reno's type."

"What-," Elena frowned before a rather chatty Rude cut in.

"But Reno isn't your type either."

"Huh?"

"Nice save," Reno said a little sarcastically under his breath, which earned a glare from Elena.

Rude slightly inclined his head in mock thanks as he pressed the up button to call the elevator. "You two would never work," he explained watching the numbers change. Almost as an afterthought, Rude added, "That's not an insult Elena."

Reno watched attentively to see how the young woman would react. He was slightly delighted to see her pout unconsciously. She always did that when something didn't please her.

"I'm not insulted, not at all," she said as pleasantly as she could. But Rude could tell that she was a little miffed. The plastered, strained smile on her face was a clear sign Elena was having a difficult time digesting his take on the situation. Rude found himself wishing for the elevator to move faster.

Her tense disposition didn't go unnoticed by Reno either. He had a hard time containing the smile that threatened to appear at her vexed attitude. Who would have thought she would be insulted if someone had said that they couldn't be a couple?

Suddenly, Elena became nonchalant, "Like it even matters."

Well Reno hadn't expected that so quickly. She seemed to have done a complete 180 as she calmly watched the elevator doors open and walked in smoothly. Both Rude and Reno were attentively watching the small woman for any signs of duplicity. It felt like the eye of the storm where everything was calm before BAM! You got hit by a flying cow.

But Rude was the first to shrug the feeling off as he got in and pressed his floor button. Reno's blue eyes narrowed in suspicion however he warily followed his best friend's move. He placed himself next to Rude making him a physical shield, while Elena remained on the opposite side still eerily calm.

Swoosh, the doors closed, oblivious to the unease inside its single compartment. Rude usually so composed, could almost feel a bead of sweat trickle down his neck collar. Reno just kept his hands in his pockets keeping himself indifferent on the outside but very intrigued on the inside. What was she concocting in that blonde head of hers?

Suddenly the answer came when Elena pressed the stop button causing the elevator to halt its movement. "I want answers and I want them now!"

"I-,"Rude started his explanation only to be interrupted by Elena.

"Not you Rude. Him." Her eyes narrowed in the red head's direction.

Reno couldn't help but sigh in exasperation. She was beginning to sound like a parrot and quite frankly boring him.

"Fine. I'll tell you Elena!" Reno said gravely, their eyes locking as he bent slightly at the waist to look at the small woman.

She was taken aback by his offensiveness. Elena had expected Reno to dance around the question like he had up to now. This sudden change made her wary.

"You got drunk at the party. And by drunk I mean you practically made me look sober," Reno said mercilessly totally ignoring the look Rude was giving him.

Elena however didn't seem to be surprised. "Well I had figured that part out since I woke up with a hangover!" she spat back with much vehemence.

"Good," Reno yelled back. "The party was a blast, kudos to Rufus by the way. Everyone was drinking, dancing, having fun and yes that even includes you Miss. Tight ass with a stick where-." His rant was cut short when Rude loudly launched himself with all the desperation of a tortured man towards the panel and hurriedly jabbed the open button. He practically pried the slow doors open and jumped out in a sprint in his need to get away from Reno and Elena's fighting. The running footsteps disappeared within seconds of his abrupt exit.

The two Turks left behind both stared in shock as the doors calmly closed but soon resumed as if nothing unusual had happened. It was very telling of what they'd deign consider unusual and worthy of their times.

Reno continued where he left off. "At the end of the night, you stumble out with all the grace of an intoxicated hobo from Sector 7 ready to drive yourself home!"

Outrage and anger flushed Elena's cheekbones as her mouth opened and closed. "I would never do that!" she sputtered out uncertainly.

"Oh, but you did." He let that hang in the air a bit, waiting to see if Elena would remember anything. Reno faced a crossroad now. He could say the truth or cover it up for her own good. After all, it had been taken care of. Taking a deep breath, Reno made his decision.

"Thankfully I had been able to catch up with you. You had fallen on the asphalt and bruised your knees, you were barely walking at that point. So I called a cab for us, went to your place and the rest," he shrugged his shoulders. "Is pretty obvious."

Elena remained motionless, just staring at him with wide, upset eyes.

"So…you…I," Elena was trying to sound strong but her voice betrayed her.

A minute of silence followed. "Yeah," he breathed.

Stillness, dense and complete, replaced the previous shouting. Reno was casually looking at the floor, his hands stuffed in his jacket's pockets once more waiting for Elena to say or do something, anything. He needed her to talk for once and say everything would eventually be okay.

But Elena kept her eyes fixed straight ahead, her arms tightly crossed over her chest. Abruptly, Elena pressed the open button and said in a soft voice, "I have to go"

Reno simply nodded, his eyes still lowered. "Yeah," was his only response again.

Without another word Elena left. At least she wasn't running, he thought.

* * *

I am writing this as I am getting ready to go to work. So a little rushed and not as edited as I would like it to have been. But it's a new chapter! And i am making it more complicated now. Sigh. 


	11. Day 2: Night: Midgar warehouse

I renamed the chapters. I find it helps me remember where I am when the days are actually spelled out, especially when I haven't written in months.

* * *

"I'll kill him, I'll mangle him, I'll… I'll… I'll run him over with a toaster!" Elena muttered viciously and incoherently as she paced the small confines of her office, like a small but very angry house cat. It was mantras such as these that prevented her from ending up rocking back and forth in the corner of a white, padded room. Elena had once heard Tseng's mantra, but it had been in Wutainese. However she knew it was something menacing because at the time he had been vigorously sharpening two of his prized throwing daggers, still in that composed manner only the leader of the Turks managed to do. By utter coincidence, this event had followed after Reno had taken the company helicopter for an unannounced joy ride… for two days.

Elena had known about the stress involved when one was a Turk, it was even mentioned in fine print on the contract every newly hired Turk had to sign for Gaia's sake! But there hadn't been any mention of additional stress brought on by a red haired freak of nature. Would her company health plan cover her if she had a breakdown because of Reno she suddenly wondered. Quickly she shook such thoughts from her head. Of course they would cover her, it probably wouldn't the first time someone had to be sent somewhere, preferably with lots of silence, because of Reno.

Suddenly her wristwatch beeped and brought her back to reality. Professionalism immediately settled over her like a second skin as the time to go was fast approaching. Without hesitation, Elena left her office briskly thinking of what she would need on this mission. Patience for one she scoffed. Only her and Reno would be there, hopefully there would be many targets to shoot otherwise she might lose it.

She walked down the hall and turned left at the end, quickly entering the women's locker room. There were a lot of lockers for when the Turks had many members, but now that she was the only woman on the team, only she used this room. That didn't mean she left her things unlocked, she just tended to use more than one locker at a time. Elena approached one in specific and automatically put in the combination. Inside was her bulletproof vest. For such an uncertain mission where no prior reconnaissance was done, going in was a great risk. But Turks were used to that, it was their job.

Elena threw her suit and tie onto the bench behind her and quickly unbuttoned her blouse. With trained movements, the vest was slipped on, as were her clothes. Feeling a little safer, the small blonde slammed the locker shut and left in the direction of her favorite place in the building, the 66th floor.

She already had two guns on her person, but she needed more. Once inside the weapons storage room, Elena repressed the urge to make sure she was alone and Reno wasn't once again waiting for her with another interesting ambush. Wait had she actually just thought it was interesting? Frowning at herself, she directly walked towards the ammunitions and violently snatched a few cartridges which she safely tucked away. Now for some materia she happily thought to herself. Inputting the right code, the metallic drawers were mechanically released exposing the shiny orbs carefully tucked away behind glass. Elena opted to bring a mastered fire and cure materia, putting one in each gun.

Finally ready, she checked her watch and realized she should start heading down towards the first floor if she didn't want to be late. A car would already be standing by and maybe if she were lucky, she'd be early enough to get herself into the driver's seat. If she had to be in the same car as Reno, she could at the very least pretend to be busy by paying attention to the road. Elena opted for the elevator this time, pressing the buttons in a vain attempt to make it go down faster. Her power walk towards the exit attracted some attention from the surrounding employees but they knew never to get in the way of a rushing Turk.

Dusk had already descended upon the city, but she could still see the black SUV waiting and running in front of the building, the front lights illuminating everything in front of it. Usually it would still be in the Shinra hangar, being prepared. Which could only mean that Reno had beaten her to it.

Elena couldn't stop her shoulders from sagging in defeat. And she had been so close to being the driver! The passenger side window robotically rolled down and Reno shouted,

"Oh come on, I'm not such a bad driver."

Just as she opened her mouth to make a reply, Reno proceeded to roll the window back up.

"That is a matter of opinion," Elena said through clenched teeth as she entered the vehicle.

"Seatbelt," Reno chirped sweetly. The young woman shot him a glare as she put the seatbelt around her small frame and it was only then that she noticed he was wearing sunglasses.

"You're not going to wear those, are you? You can't drive with sunglasses in the middle of the night!" she asked incredulously. Had he completely lost the small fraction of common sense he had? Night was coming and to top that off, the windows were all tinted. Reno would be basically driving blind with her as a passenger. However he only smiled in response and before Elena could open the door to tuck and roll, Reno sped up, tires screeching violently.

The young woman cursed loudly as the scenery flew by. The streetlights had become a mere blur as her eyes tried to focus on anything, absolutely anything that could tell her which way they were going. Just thinking of the possibility that an innocent pedestrian could walk in front of the speeding vehicle at any street corner made her sink even further into her seat. That and the mangled body parts strewn all over the windshield. The odds of Reno even seeing the person in the dark he has chosen to surround himself in were nil. Elena gripped the leather seating trying to be calm, at least on the exterior, but it was proving to be a losing battle.

It ended up being an 8 minute ride which would have regularly taken 20 had a normal driver been behind the wheel. Alas it wasn't so. Shooting Elena another smirk, Reno threw his glasses into the back seat.

"And you thought it couldn't be done," he scoffed as he got out of the car.

Elena followed choosing to ignore the remark, instead ready and alert of her surroundings. She realized they were on the outskirts of Midgar's slums where the abandoned factories still stood. So they had arrived in record time, she wasn't about to applaud Reno for it especially in the manner he did it.

The dark sky didn't make things easier for the two Turks. The almost nil visibility though wasn't going to be a problem because a few dim lights could be seen illuminating a couple of the decrepit windows.

"I thought these buildings were abandoned," Elena remarked.

Reno turned his head to look at her and said, "Well not everyone can afford a house princess. Some people have no choice but to live in buildings such as these."

"I'm not a princess," Elena muttered angrily as she rechecked her weapons. "So there are civilians living in the Acta 3 building. What do we do about them?"

Spinning his Eletro-rod in one hand, he just shrugged his lean shoulders in response and walked on. Elena took her time to look around and it occurred to her that one building in particular had lights shinning brighter than the other buildings. The light seemed to be electric instead of the dimmer and more orange glow that comes from candles.

"Reno," she yelled as quietly as she could, which ended up as a hiss. "That one."

Not missing a beat, Reno robotically spun towards where she was pointing not bothering to ask why because that would open a can of arguing worms with them staying there until morning. Elena soon followed, idly wondering if the homeless people were looking at them, two people in professional black suits so obviously not in their element. They probably didn't care.

Reno in the lead was quick to notice the security cameras as well as the keypad on the door. All the windows were equipped with bars too but other than that everything seemed normal.

"Not your basic abandoned factory I guess," Reno said. "You don't install top of the line security devices to protect an empty building. Unless the value of nothing went up in recent months."

Now that the small woman was next to him, she saw what he meant.

"How do we get in now?" she asked simply.

Grinning, Reno glanced sideways at the blonde. "Do you want the hard way or the easy way?"

Elena frowned thinking it was a trap but answered hesitantly nonetheless, "The easy way, I guess."

"Good," he reached greedily into his pocket and aimed it at the door. "Now stand back."

Before she could stop him, Reno had already thrown the small explosive and was himself backing away. Elena could only stare in shock at what the moron had just done. Not only did he announce their arrival to the enemy, they would probably come out in numbers to investigate what had happened to their door! The bomb blew up in a loud cacophony of sound causing Elena's ears to ring.

"What the hell did you do!?" she screeched. Elena could barely contain her anger. When one of her teammates screws up by accident, it's one thing. But when they do it on purpose, it's a whole different situation. Can you say severe disciplinary action?

Elena was mentally calculating what punishment Tseng would come up with once they returned when she felt Reno nudge her forward.

"Are you coming or not?" he asked casually.

Her brown eyes stared at him fully expecting a second head to pop up any moment now. Sanity was definitely not in his vocabulary.

"No one's home Laney," he said in a singsong voice. Well she could have guessed that, he had just proven yet again how much intelligence he is missing by... oh he meant the building.

"How do you-."

"Look around, do you see any cars except ours around?"

Looking quick, Elena swiveled her head around and just like Reno had said, the streets were all deserted.

Huffing, the young woman shrugged her shoulders and said, "So, doesn't mean anything."

Reno didn't wait for her this time and made his way towards the hole that used to be the door.

"No self-respecting criminal walks towards their hide-out Laney, it's one of the golden rules. And no they didn't park in the back or further away because we drove around there," he said.

She hated it when he was logical.

Feeling a little inferior, to Reno of all people at the moment, she followed him grudgingly. Elena wanted to mumble obscenities under her breath but felt like it wouldn't make her feel better.

Reno was holding his Electro-rod in his hand while the other was casually in his left pocket. On her end, Elena took out one pistol, checked yet again the cartridges and materia, and remained silent following him.

The inside was nothing amazing or suspicious. The building must have been a huge warehouse of sorts because its size would hold tons and tons of supplies. Multiple dim bulbs high up on the ceiling illuminated it, several corners were bathed in darkness because the light was not close or strong enough to reach them. There were numerous crates covered by what used to be white drapes on the floor as if put there at random. The drapes were unnecessary as far as Elena could tell, they were probably just there to make the crates look inconspicuous in the off chance that someone entered. Like two Turks.

Reno was already trying to lift the wooden lid off of one crate with the help of his metallic rod further away from her. Now curious, she approached him not risking putting her weapon away just in case there was something more to this practically empty place.

With a final grunt, the lid clattered loudly onto the floor causing Elena to wince at the loudness of it. Reno didn't care because his eyes were alight and fixed on the box's contents, like he was opening presents.

"Well I'll be damned," he whistled, disbelief and unhidden awe evident in his voice.

"What?" Elena couldn't help asking. She hurried over to see that inside the crates were in fact dozens of new weapons that Shinra had intended to send to the military base in Junon in a few days time.

"But that's impossible!" Elena couldn't believe what her eyes were telling her. This load of weapons was supposed to be under lock and key in one of Shinra's own warehouses in Midgar!

"Then we are experiencing the same hallucination," he answered sarcastically.

"You know what I mean!" she snapped back, her loud voice echoing within the building.

Nodding, Reno took out his PHS out of his vest's pocket and hit a single button. Elena had an inkling as to who it was he was calling.

"Yo Tseng, we have a problem."

As Reno explained the situation to their superior, Elena walked towards the remaining boxes. For a warehouse of this size, she was surprised that only what seemed to be in all ten crates were stored here. She'd bet her uniform that the rest also contained stolen weapons. But how were these people capable of stealing from Shinra's own buildings? They were protected by the most advanced technology the world had to offer, after all Shinra's own departments developed it.

As a Turk, she had trouble swallowing the fact that some low-life criminals were outsmarting them. It was hard on the pride.

"Yeah… yeah… ok… yeah." Elena tried to follow Reno's conversation but it was hard to do when he only used two words. Finally Reno snapped the phone shut and swiftly put it back where he had taken it from. He ran a hand through his messy bangs, a sure sign he was as close to thinking as Reno was possible. But even he was surprised at how far this organization has seeped into Shinra's own backyard. It took serious resources and planning to accomplish this without getting caught. How in the name of Shiva did they get this out of the safely protected storage? Only higher-ranking Shinra employees could do so with their access cards. Which meant that there was a very naughty high-ranking employee at the company.

Shaking his head one more time he looked at Elena and said, "We can leave when reinforcements arrive, Rufus is sending people to pack this up pronto to return to the Shinra building."

Without bothering to look if she was following him, Reno walked back towards the exit, a cigarette already dangling from his lips as a lighter was flicked on. Inhaling gladly, Reno leaned on the wall where the door used to be and observed the decrepit buildings on the other side of the street.

Elena soon exited as well and went to stand on the other side, keeping her eyes on him all the while.

"How do you think they did it?" she said curiously wanting Reno's opinion. In these cases, he had very good insight. He could be a mastermind criminal if he put his mind to it.

One puff of smoke elapsed before Reno answered simply, "It's one of us Elena."

For a minute Elena just nodded because she had thought the same thing. It was the logical and easiest solution but then a conversation from earlier in the day came floating back to her. Hadn't Reno been warning Rufus about her? Piecing the events together didn't require a lot of effort for Elena. What if they thought she was the mole? Oh Gaia, was she already under suspicion and surveillance?

"Laney, you ok?" Reno's voice broke her rising panic. "You look pale."

Forcing a smile, she just shook her head up and down not really looking at him. It was the arrival of five cars that managed to get her attention away from her increasing fears. Armed men and women came out in a professional line to where Reno was pointing with his thumb.

His cigarette now finished, he threw it onto the concrete road and took out the SUV's keys with a jingle. Glancing at Elena who hadn't moved in a while, he had to get closer to her and snap his fingers in front of her face for Elena to finally look up at him.

Instead of the irritating comment Elena had been expecting, Reno merely took her gently by the arm and guided her to their ride. Had she been in a better mood, she would have already flung his arm away and stormed off ahead of him but she just couldn't muster the energy. She felt depleted, like her life was spinning out of her well-maintained control. And the bone chilling coldness spreading to her limbs from her chest wasn't helping either. The young woman tried so hard to be a good worker and an even better Turk but if she was suspected of being the traitor then her days were numbered, literally. And what sucked even more was that as a Turk she actually did possess a keycard to every Shinra warehouse and hangar, which brought another point in her disfavor.

The young woman couldn't even muster the necessary anger she knew she deserved to feel over this. But maybe she was quickly jumping to conclusions. Maybe the conversation Reno had had with Rufus was about… she couldn't even imagine another reason. However she also remembered that the President had been a little skeptical about Reno's opinion. So if the President wasn't convinced of her disloyalty she was still in the clear, she hoped.

Automatically she went around the SUV and sat herself in the passenger seat. She barely registered Reno as he got in next to her, started the engine and sped away. Before she knew it, she found herself staring at her building. It had barely felt like a minute had elapsed since they left. Odd that Reno had driven her home. She didn't know how to feel by such a gesture on Reno's part. He wasn't usually this considerate or selfless. Had he been acting normal, she would be staring angrily out of the window right at this moment at a dingy bar that Reno had decided to force her to try a drink-out as he liked to call the weekly bar try outs.

Without a word of gratitude or goodbye, Elena hoped out and went inside her apartment building because her mind was beginning to enter a new and disturbing thought process. It hadn't been Rufus who had warned Reno about her "treason", it had been Reno. Why would he do that to her? What lead him to believe she could ever have a part in this conspiracy? The small Turk did her best to stop the sharp pain stabbing her in the middle of her chest joining the coldness there, knowing deep down it hurt that Reno was the one who believed her to be the leak. Especially after their night… oh Gaia, get a grip, Elena chastised herself furiously. They were drunk, it hadn't meant anything, end of discussion. She could be an adult about it. However, as she was about to unlock the front door she stilled. Her brown eyes widened as it dawned on her that he might have already had his suspicions about her then.

She didn't know how long she had just stood there mouth agape but the sound of keys clattering on the bare floor brought her back. They had slipped from her limp hold on them. Wearily she picked them up and opened the door with a newfound weight on her shoulders. It made perfect sense in a twisted way. What better method to get information from someone then when they are drunk and vulnerable? And Reno had done just that. Oh God, she must be the greatest fool in the world! Here she had been worrying about what that incident would do to her personal life but what she should have been worrying about is her professional one.

Closing the door firmly behind her and making sure all the locks were fastened, Elena numbly went into her living room and plopped herself in front of the laptop. Her whole being seemed to be covered with ice. She didn't want to believe that Reno, one of her coworkers, and dare she say it, friend, had done this to her. A small part of her was still doubtful that Reno was this devious and manipulative. Maybe it was just her mind being overly paranoid and seeing ghosts where there were none. But no matter what, she had the feeling that if she wanted her name to be cleared, she was going to be the one to have to find the actual culprit or culprits. Turning on the device with somewhat more determination, Elena waited until the main menu popped up to quickly begin typping on the keyboard. The blonde woman wrote:

Prototype weapons access: President, Turks, Weapons Manufacturing Department personnel, 1st class SOLDIER

Warehouse and other highly protected locations: President, Turks, 1st class SOLDIER

Possible motives: Money, terrorist activity (potential coup against Shinra)

Proof: ?

Well that last one was going to have to stay blank in the meantime because she hadn't yet discovered anything conclusive in the encrypted files they had seized a day ago. Hopefully tomorrow when she would continue with her work, she'd discover something she had overlooked or hadn't uncovered yet. There was a lot of code and data that could be hidden.

Elena looked at the small list and wondered just how many hundred of people were possible suspects. Practically everyone was tempted by the lure of wealth, but how many of them were angry with Shinra and doing their best to destroy it from the inside out? However she decided to remove the President on her list because he didn't have any motive to sabotage his own company. She didn't consciously know it but Elena was clinging to her logic like a safety line because if she let her emotions surface she would be a total wreck. At the smallest sign that her armor was cracking, the young woman forced herself to do something else, be it exercise, reading or television. She didn't want to think about the potential hurt that could come of this. What had made her think that Reno thought of her as a friend as well? He was also a Turk, and Turks were paid to put the safety of the Shinra Company first. The Company namde sure they were loyal to the Company first and foremost.

As she continued to furiously keep her mind busy and off the topic of Reno in her fourth floor apartment, unnoticed below, the lights of a SUV driving by for the third time illuminated the area. The driver's turquoise eyes scanned voraciously the area for anything out of the ordinary that would be worth his time to investigate. Satisfied that nothing was around, Reno pulled away and drove in the direction of the Shinra building.

* * *

It's fresh out of my laptop and here!! Reviews??


	12. Day 6: Afternoon: Interrogations

A few days had passed and things had relatively gone back to normal, well by Elena's standards anyway. Overall, Rude hadn't spoken more than 7 sentences, Tseng had been locked up in his office doing paperwork probably getting paler from lack of sunlight, Rufus hadn't been seen at all amongst the lesser mortals and Reno, well Reno hadn't annoyed her that much. All in all, things were pretty much going smoothly for Elena.

Her work with the encrypted files had resulted in various names, which had led to 6 arrests, but all were small players in the hierarchy of the organization. Under interrogation, only minimal information had been acquired from them and most of it Elena had already assembled from the files. And the little list she had assembled herself hadn't been much help. Acta 3 seemed to be one step ahead of the Turks. Even though their leader had been eliminated, the organization was still thriving and its illegal activities continued to infiltrate Shinra. It was turning out to be a bigger problem than first thought and that was beginning to irk Rufus.

"I don't care how many heads have to roll before you actual find an operative within my company," Rufus said calmly with only a smidgen of frustration. The four Turks standing in his office could tell that he was angry.

He reached into a drawer and pulled out six thick folders one after another, each one landing with a heavy thud on his desk. "In here are all the people working in various departments of Shinra who have access to the prototype weapons as well as newly manufactured ones. They all need to be questioned thoroughly. You have my personally permission to use whatever method necessary."

Just as Rufus said those words, Reno's face lit up with the possibilities this permission would grant him to handle these employee interviews.

"Except you Reno," Rufus finished not even bothering to glance his way.

And just like that the dream was over.

"Very well sir," Tseng said. He approached the President's desk and took possession of the heavy documents. "We will get right on it."

The three Turks followed their leader out of the office, each silently dreading this time-consuming task given to them. But they were also aware that this had to be done since progress was at a literal standstill.

Back in the Turks office, Tseng gave each Turk a folder while he kept two to himself.

"These are the people each of you will be interviewing. I trust no one has a problem with that?" Tseng asked his team.

Reno was about to raise his hand but was stopped by Rude softly shaking his head.

Tseng saw the exchange but chose not to comment. "Good, now get to work."

Elena immediately got to her seat and opened the giant folder. The papers were all in alphabetical order by last name. Impressively arranged, she thought. She decided that before she got to the actual interviews, she would at least skim through the relevant notes on each person to get a feel of things. It only took her 2 hours to finish the entire document but nothing unusual popped out at her. The majority of the people either worked in researching, designing, producing or testing Shinra's weapons. There were only a few exceptions such as a few first class SOLDIERS. Well what had she expected? That the infiltrator would be blatantly obvious on paper?

Well since it was alphabetical, she might as well start with the first person and go from there. She would just go see them rather than having to summon them to the interrogation rooms. After about talking to five dozen people, Elena started seeing a disturbing pattern. She was currently standing above a certain Olga Lareclasz, a senior level employee who had worked in the weapons department for over 10 years. The older woman was calmly sitting at her sterile gray desk chatting animatedly about days spent working in Shinra. Elena was trying really hard not to yawn as the talkative woman kept on going seemingly full of steam and gossip.

"And so when Stacha abruptly left to go on vacation to Wutai to do some sight-seeing, well I was just shocked. Here we all were working extra hours already to get the M-120 into working order and she decides _she_ needs some off time? Why it was just inconsiderate!" Olga huffed her ample cheeks really beginning to look angry.

But Elena didn't care. Something she had just said was striking her as odd.

"When did she leave exactly?"

The older woman's forehead wrinkled in concentration but just as she was about to answer she exclaimed a little aha as if remembering something and opened the top most drawer of her desk. After a few minutes of rummaging through the layers of papers, Olga pulled out a single sheet and handed it to Elena's waiting hand.

On it were but a few typed up sentences in which the author, Stacha, wrote that she was already in Wutai and needed some time off to relax. It didn't specify when she would return though, Elena noted with interest. There was no date or signature on the letter either.

"I'm going to keep this for official record purposes," Elena said. "Can you tell me how long she has been gone?"

"Oh about a month."

"And she didn't send any other letters or been in communication with anyone from Shinra?"

Olga merely shook her head no. "That is one of the things that had bothered me. Stacha was a very responsible young woman who had never even once called in sick. Her work was her life and she worked as hard as I do." The way she said it made Elena think they were both even more dedicated to their work than her. "And to top that off, her replacement left just as quickly as she did, just last week with no warning."

Elena's eyes narrowed as she leafed through the notes she had made in the course of her previous interrogations. "The Central Midgar Employment Agency?" Olga confirmed with a shake of her bobbed head. "What was his name?"

"Mark Lober. The employment agency thankfully sent him quickly and he had all the necessary qualifications so my team was quite glad we had an extra set of hands around to help us during this busy time."

Now her suspicions seemed to be confirmed. Elena figured there wasn't anything else that needed to be done so she left the scientist alone. Now she finally had a lead. This wasn't the first time she heard during her interview that an employee had left abruptly with no warning but it was the first time that a letter had been sent. This was concrete evidence. Before she would continue with her other interviews, Elena went back to her office and sat at her desk and just smiled.

But just then Reno walked in and stopped abruptly at the sight of the blonde woman smiling creepily. In his opinion, it was a smile that suggested her sanity was being attacked on a few fronts.

"Elena," he began cautiously as he approached her very calmly. "What's wrong?"

Her brown eyes looked up at his face and surprisingly she didn't stop smiling. Quite to the contrary, her smile widened further.

"I know how they got into Shinra."

Suddenly he understood. Leaning against her desk he waited until she explained further because honestly he hadn't even started going through his own folder. But that wasn't what was worrying him.

"They've been kidnapping our employees and replacing them with their own people. It's the one thing we haven't considered," Elena said quickly, her excitement rushing her words.

She saw Reno's features harden and become serious and for a minute she wondered if he even believed her at all. Just as she was about to get angry and make threatening remarks about someone's certain jugular Reno casually said, "What have you found out?"

So Elena explained everything she had learned in just a few hours, ranging from the several unexplained leave of absences to the fact that they were all replaced within days thanks to this Central Midgar Employment Agency.

"Never heard of that place," Reno said.

Elena couldn't stop her eye roll if you had glued her eyes in place. "Of course not, when was the last time you needed to find a job?"

She didn't have to add that as Turks there was really only one way out anyway.

"So what are you going to do now Laney?"

Sighing, Elena said, "I'm going to finish interrogating everyone and then I'll write up a report to give Tseng."

"Well that's just a waste of time. We already know how it's being done so why don't you just go see good ol' Rufus and tell him what kind of state his precious Shinra is in? That ought to get his blue blood boiling," Reno commented, his mocking smile perfectly in place.

Elena shook her head in amusement even though she knew from first hand experience she shouldn't encourage the devil. "Why do you suddenly enjoy annoying the President?"

Reno's azure eyes sparkled as he thought about it. "It's in the challenge Laney, all in the challenge."

"O…k," Elena said uncertainly as she rose from her seat. She noticed that even with Reno leaning his frame against her desk, he was still taller than her by at least two inches and he was looking at her oddly. He brought his face a little closer to hers to get a better look and suddenly asked, ""How are you?"

"I am... fine?" she couldn't help the way she made that sound like a question. Frowning, she waited for him to say something else but he just kept on looking at her. Was there something on her face or what? She resisted the urge to pull out her compact and take a look for herself but she knew that would just be giving in to her Reno induced paranoia.

Suddenly the lightness left his face and he was back to being serious and gloomy. That look on Reno's face made Elena's insides clench because it actually managed to scare her. Reno was not a serious person even when the situation called for it so why was he acting this way now?

Getting up to his full height he now easily overshadowed Elena's small frame. She nervously fidgeted as she stood in place, waiting painfully for him to say something.

"About that night…" he began carefully, his eyes boring into hers.

But Elena's shock wore off faster.

"No! No! I don't want to hear it. I want to live in blissful ignorance until the end of my days," she all but screamed as she stomped around her desk towards the door.

"Elena listen!" Reno who had not moved from his place almost pleaded.

"I said no! What in no don't you understand?" she huffed as her cheeks got red from anger. "I… I… I forbid you to talk about it!"

Quickly Reno's serious persona vanished and amused Reno returned with a parade.

"You forbid me?" he asked in a tone which suggested he was containing mass hysterical laughter.

That just angered Elena more. She didn't know why she had said it, after all it sounded silly even to her own ears but it had just slipped out somehow. Now she felt like she was going to be thoroughly ridiculed for it.

"Yes I forbid you," she said threateningly as she slowly paced towards him. She might as well roll with it. "I don't want to talk about it, don't want to hear about it, and I especially don't want to be reminded of it or anything else that had to do with that night!"

Now they stood toe to toe each glaring at the other. Elena didn't notice in her burning anger but Reno's eyes had turned glacial.

"Do you understand?" she asked calmly but with an underlying threat.

A few agonizingly silent and long seconds ticked by. His impassive face remained in place as he finally said, "Do I disgust you that much?"

Elena's anger immediately deflated. Of all the things he could have possibly said, that hadn't even been on the list. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish underwater as she struggled for something coherent to say. The fish seemed to be caught.

But Reno had already brushed by her and was leaving, hands in his pockets. It seemed he had taken her stunned silence as a confirmation.

"Whatever, I'll see you around," he said casually as he strode out but Elena could swear she heard a bit of … disappointment?

Now alone, Elena remained frozen in place as the shock began to wear down. However she soon found her answer to his question.

"No, you don't disgust me Reno," she whispered.

It took a moment for her to figure out what she had just said. Her eyes widened hardly believing it was her own mouth that had uttered them. They had just come out on their own without her consciously thinking them! But she couldn't waste any more time on this, she had many, many interviews to finish. And if she found some more on the way, the better! Gladly she took her massive folder thankful for there being something to occupy her distraught mind. But she couldn't help but wonder why this revelation didn't horrify her more.

* * *

Reviews???? Sweet, precious reviews for the absentee? Next chapter will be all about Reno and Rude. I want to write from their perspective for some reason.


	13. Day 6: Crime scene

**I'm not sure if I posted this link in a previous chapter but the second picture AthaMaarit sent can be found here www (dot) athamaarit (dot )deviantart (dot) com (slash) gallery (slash) # (slash) d1raept**

I don't know if I am stereotyping Rude but in my mind he is some sort of highly educated gentleman with an air for etiquette. Confused? Allow me to elaborate. Let's say Rude is enjoying a nice cup of coffee and out of nowhere a man with a gun springs up in the coffee shop he is presently occupying. Not only would Rude not look surprised, he would already have thrown a knife at the guy all the while still calmly sitting at his seat enjoying his morning paper. The only irritation out of him would be a small sigh that his moment was interrupted. And maybe a mumbled "some people" under his breath.

* * *

"Yo, am I disgusting?"

Rude's cup of tea stopped jarringly halfway up to his lips. He had been sitting in the Turk lounge all alone enjoying some desperately needed quiet time but now it seemed that that was going to end, make that disintegrate. Reno in the meantime was trying to decide whether Rude's rigid stillness was because he was considering the question or it had shocked him to the 9th circle of hell.

"Well?" Reno huffed impatiently.

Calmly Rude returned the cup onto its neat, crisp white saucer and seemed to focus all his concentration on the question at hand. Reno took this opportunity to fling himself onto the opposite leather seat with a flop and wait for his best friend's epiphany.

"In what way?" was the composed answer.

Repressing an irritated growl Reno explained, "I mean in general dude. No need to be picky."

A ghost of a smirk passed Rude's lips as he began noticing his friend's impatience.

"Usually you just don't care."

Reno was watching the ceiling by this point as if he was already bored with their conversation but he nodded in the end refusing to meet Rude's glasses. The silent Turk could tell that meant something was on his mind, which was rather odd. Reno was many things but affected by someone's opinion or judgment just didn't happen.

"Who?"

"What?"

Silent pause.

"Who?"

"Oh you mean _who_," the red head figured out. Suddenly he became a little uncomfortable.

"That doesn't matter. You know what, forget I even said anything."

Rude chuckled silently. So this was about a girl. But if Reno didn't want to talk about it, then he wasn't going to pry. Reaching for his cup more than ready to continue where he had left off, Rude was ready to put this whole conversation behind him.

"But seriously, am I disgusting?"

It was starting to look like he wasn't going to get any peace and quiet until he honestly answered.

"Not really," Rude said shrugging slightly. "It could be worse."

Reno frowned in confusion. "What do you mean it could be worse?"

Well he hadn't meant for it to be a follow up question. Rude pushed back his sunglasses with a well-practiced movement and prepared to say something no man should say to another man.

"You are an attractive man Reno."

Reno's red eyebrows shot up but Rude ignored it and continued.

"Yes your clothes are haggard, you _are_ a pig most of the time, offensive, loud, stubborn etc, etc but deep down an overall nice guy." Rude paused to take a sip of his lukewarm tea and shrugged. "Well as much as a man who kills for a living can be anyway."

Rude didn't seem to notice or chose not to the somewhat stunned silence following his once in a lifetime declaration. Reno however was more amazed at the total amount of words that had come out of Rude and not as much at the actual words.

Finally Reno smiled mischievously and said,

"See buddy that wasn't so hard."

Rude just raised an eyebrow and inclined his head forward in acknowledgement knowing that was the closest he was going to get to an official thank you. Quickly Reno bounced off the leather seat in a flail of limbs determined to find Elena and explain everything once and for all, mind games officially over.

Meanwhile Elena was still a bit stunned in her office but she had moved on to paperwork to keep her whirling mind busy. But every time she tried to focus on something her thoughts automatically reverted back to Reno's reaction and most troubling of all, his words.

Sighing she got up and decided to end her torment by getting busier. She was going to skip the official report that company policy dictated she should submit and go straight to Rufus and actually tell him verbally what she had managed to dig up. Getting her weary bones moving, she dragged herself out.

As she exited the elevator to Rufus' floor she jerkily stopped at the sight before her. Reno was sitting behind the secretary's desk seemingly typing something on the computer keyboard. To the outside observer he might seem to be actually working but to someone who knows him, the odds are he was probably installing a virus… or worse.

"Reno what are you doing?" Elena half-yelled as she approached him. Really she didn't have the energy right now.

She was a little satisfied at seeing him jerk a bit but he immediately recovered.

"Just playing a healthy, innocent joke on my favourite long-nailed human-lizard hybrid," he said getting up from his seat and around the table. "I swear Laney, no real human can have such nails!"

His eyes widened in mock horror causing Elena to chuckle.

"So whatcha here for?" he asked.

"I'm here to see Rufus. I'm just going to explain the situation with the least amount of paperwork."

"Ah," Reno smiled widely, putting his hands in his pockets. "So I was right."

"No, you just may have had a point, that's all."

"Of course Laney, whatever you say."

With a slight huff, Elena walked around him and knocked on the President's door. Only when she heard Rufus' authoritative come in did she deign to enter. As she was about to close the door behind her, Elena noticed that Reno had slipped himself in. Great another meeting between the three of them, just what she needed.

"I'm assuming you found something," Rufus said from behind his desk, not bothering with any niceties.

"Yes sir. Throughout my interviews I've been able to find out that several Shinra employees have been replaced by supposed workers from a single employment center, the Central Midgar Employment Agency. Our employees I presume are being replaced by Acta 3 operatives for a few weeks and then disappear. None of your employees have returned to date though sir."

The President remained quiet after her statement which wasn't unusual. Rufus would usually continue on with his work and make his employees wait for a few minutes for him to make a decision or acknowledge their existence. Therefore Elena patiently waited for him to give his orders. Finally with a quick flourish, Rufus wrote his signature one last time and calmly placed his pen on the desk.

"Good work Elena," Rufus commented neutrally. "I want you and Reno to go see this Central Midgar Employment Agency for yourselves. If it's a nest for these people, I want it blown up today. Also go to some of the missing employees' residences and see if you can find anything. That is all."

And with that Rufus picked up his discarded pen once more and began to sign pages. Recognizing a dismissal when they saw one, Reno and Elena left the President's office.

"So it's you and me again huh Laney?" Reno drawled as he calmly walked behind her and her quick little steps.

Ignoring his remark and his presence, Elena just pressed the elevator button and waited a little bit anxiously for its arrival.

"Look, we'll start with the latest employee who has gone missing. Her apartment isn't far from here. It's more efficient that way," Elena explained. Mentally she added that it would probably be even more efficient if Reno didn't come at all but that was wishful thinking and she knew that.

Together they entered the elevator and remained silent. Elena couldn't quite come to a decision as to whether it was a good silence or a bad omen silence, like beware the ides of March type of silence.

Finally the doors swooshed open and the dynamic duo headed towards their SUV, again with Reno trailing behind her. There wasn't even arguing when it came to who would drive. Reno didn't complain or whine when he sat himself in the passenger seat. He even put on his seat belt without being nagged into doing it.

Elena, needless to say, was getting freaked.

She parked the vehicle directly in front of the apartment building knowing no one would be waiting for them in ambush.

"Nice place," Reno muttered as he got out of the SUV.

"Yeah," Elena agreed as her eyes roamed over the beautiful structure. "Guess we are in the wrong field of work Reno."

They were standing in front of a white brick building with pristine windows and marble stairs. The building positively oozed class.

Shrugging his lean shoulders, Reno took the lead and ignoring the slightly stunned valet, removed his mag-rod.

He waited for Elena to tell him where to go since he hadn't bothered looking up which apartment the employee had occupied. Reno wasn't as optimistic as Elena. He knew the kidnapped people weren't alive and he would bet money on it. Except Rufus had told him not to do that anymore, something about it lacking good taste.

"This way. She lived on the 4th floor."

"Right," he mumbled, not really paying attention but just following.

They got to the door and without prompting, Reno was already at work picking the lock. Meanwhile Elena kept a lookout with her gun held closely to her right thigh.

Eventually a small click was heard followed by a ta-da and Elena knew Reno had gotten the better of a lock yet again.

Without a sound, Reno swung the door open.

"Well so much for your kidnapping theory," Reno said as he calmly lit a cigarette. He really needed to start betting again.

There in front of them was either the messiest place in the world or something really bad had happened here. Tables were overturned, drawers ripped from their hinges, glass was broken everywhere. But what really caught Elena's eye was the blood spatter and single bullet hole in the far left wall.

"She was killed here," Reno stated matter-of-fact, white smoke escaping his parted lips.

The blood had long ago turned a dull brown and as Elena squatted down to get a closer look, the blood wasn't even liquid anymore. It had been so long that it was dried solid. The only evidence of the violence of the shot was the wide range the blood had sprayed over the cream painted wall.

"From the looks of it, it looks like the work of a pro. Single shot, silencer probably, either through an important artery or straight through the heart," Elena said dispassionately. She had been the cause of too many scenes such as these to be affected by them anymore.

Reno nodded at her observation and left to go through the rest of the apartment. He didn't find anything unusual, just more mess.

Whoever this or these guys were ransacked the place. But looking for what exactly? If they wanted to get information on the weapon manufacturing going on in Shinra then they wouldn't have found anything really important in an employee's home. No, there was something else they were after.

Reno returned to the living room to see Elena just getting off her PHS.

"I called Tseng. A team will be sent here along with a few others to go to the residences that we haven't gone to."

"Swell."

"Tseng urges us to go to the employment agency right away and see who we can find and drag in to Shinra."

Reno whistled slightly under his breath. "I guess Rufus wants to get his hands on someone he can hurt now."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure we all do at this point Reno," Elena replied as she walked past him and out the front door.

Reno stared a few seconds more at the place they presumed the young woman had died and nodded once as if accepting a silent challenge. He had a strong feeling this was going to get uglier before it got better.

* * *

My updates are going to be rare from now on. Life is getting just too busy. But i'm going to continue writing so it doesn't mean this story is on hiatus. The story shall go on! Reviews?


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Final Fantasy VII, Humor, Romance